Music
ACCORDION TO IMMIGRANTS
Saturday November 5, 1:30pm-3pm
Carnegie Theatre, 401 Main
Imagine a theatre of accordion players in a concert of music from around the world. Sounds great doesn’t it, but surely impossible. Well not in Vancouver! Todd Wong, the well-known founder of Gung Haggis Fat Choy, is a member of the Squeezebox Circle and they are coming to the Festival this year. With a concert of music played on the versatile and always surprising mighty accordion, the diverse accordionists in this concert will share stories of immigrant experience in the Downtown Eastside/Strathcona. There will be solos, duets and groups, playing songs by Jelly Roll Morton, Jimi Hendrix, kd lang, and so much more. Join Todd, Alan Zisman, Roman Lipkovits and accordionists aplenty from the Squeezebox Circle and from the Lower Mainland. Don’t miss it! Free
To join the Vancouver Squeezebox Circle, hustle on down to Spartacus Books, 684 E. Hastings the first Thursday of every month or visit www.squeezeboxcircle.org
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Dialogue
COMMUNITY ARTS DIALOGUE
Saturday November 5, 9am-4:30pm
World Art Centre, SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, 149 W. Hastings
Celebrate and discuss community art: a one-day dialogue about the state of community arts in Vancouver. Presentations and dialogue to facilitate networking; share tools, resources and best practices; identify needs for community arts in Vancouver; and to explore and increase awareness of community arts – what are its forms and what are the benefits. Discussion in the morning; keynote speaker and open space in the afternoon. More than twenty artist presenters, community members, facilitators, and scribes will be involved. Presented by the Community Arts Council of Vancouver in partnership with SFU Woodwards. For information and registration visit www.cacv.ca/dialogue. Free
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Animation Workshop for Kids
GET ANIMATED!
Saturday November 5, 2pm-5pm
W2 Media Café and NFB Theatre, 111 W. Hastings
Get Animated! is a Canada-wide series of free screenings, master classes and activities marking International Animation Day. Join W2, in association with Reel to Real and the National Film Board, for this Stop Motion Animation Workshop for children. Please register with W2: call 604-689-9896 or by email: info@creativetechnology.org. Free
Fundraiser
STRATHCONA ANNUAL PUB SOCIAL NITE
Saturday November 5, 6pm-10pm
Strathcona Community Centre Seniors Lounge, 601 Keefer
Come on down as old meets new at the Friends of Strathcona evening of fun, friends, fundraising and big music entertainment. The highlight of the night is the music of singers and musicians with long time Strathcona Elementary school music teacher Mark Wardrop and company. Silent auction, 50/50 draw and raffle prizes. Tickets can be purchased at the Strathcona Community Centre. For further information call 604-713-1838. All proceeds to the After-School Children and Food-Security Programs. Tickets are $20
Walking Tours
A WALK IN CHINATOWN with Bob Sung
Saturday November 5, 10am (approx. 1½ hrs)
Meet at Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden courtyard, 568 Carrall
Walk the inner city neighbourhood of Chinatown and learn customs, symbolism and traditions from a cultural perspective with Bob Sung. When we meet each other, food is what we have in common. A member of the Chinese Canadian Writers Group, Bob has written and explored the meaning imbedded in food and with a background in culinary education, he says “Food is my medium.” $10 for non-residents, pay what you can for local residents
VANCOUVER’S DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE OUTDOOR MURALS
Saturday November 5, 11am-12:30pm
Meet inside the front lobby of Carnegie Centre, 401 Main
There are over eighty murals on the walls of buildings in Vancouver’s East End. Muralist and local Mayor’s Award winning artist Richard Tetrault leads us on a walking tour of about fifteen of those murals located in the Downtown Eastside. Joining the walk is artist and muralist Jerry Whitehead (Cree Nation). While Richard and Jerry have made many a brushstroke on many a mural on the walk, even they are surprised by some of the murals that suddenly appear on the walls of the Downtown Eastside. There are sure to be surprises around every corner! For further details please visit the interactive mural map at www.muralsvancouver.ca, a website built with the support of the City of Vancouver Great Beginnings Program. $10 for non-residents, pay what you can for local residents
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Poetry
DTES POETS OPEN MIC
Saturday November 5, 7pm
Carnegie Theatre, 401 Main
Downtown Eastside poets and writers meet on the first Saturday of every month to read original poetry, plays, prose and work-in-progress. It’s free, it’s friendly, it’s packed with local talent, both on the mic and in the audience. The personal stories can be quite raw and powerful . . . Sign up for a 10-minute spot at the Open Mic. Hosted by Diane Wood. Free
Music
TRISURGENCE
Saturday November 5, 8pm-10:30pm
Ukrainian Hall, 805 E. Pender
Also on Fri Nov 4, 8pm
This special concert celebrates the meeting and cultural exchange between Vancouver’s Aboriginal, Chinese and European communities in the Downtown Eastside and East Vancouver. See Fri Nov 4 for full details. $10 suggested donation at door
Electronic Music and Media Arts
HALLOW2EEN, W2 BLACK LIGHT SERIES
Saturday November 5, 10pm
W2 Media Café, 111 W. Hastings
W2 presents the Black Light Series, four separate events that showcase distinct and artistic directions of electronic music and media arts, and feature emerging and established artists and producers from Vancouver and abroad. Tonight’s program includes Mimesis featuring The Sundance Kid, That African, Calamalka, Eames, and Ben Westergreen. For more information visit www.creativetechnology.org. $15/10, $45 for 4-night Black Light Pass
Poetry
The VANCOUVER 125 POETRY CONFERENCE DownTown Eastside ROUNDTABLE
Saturday November 5, 3:30pm-5:30pm
Carnegie Theatre, 401 Main
As part of the year-long celebration of Vancouver’s 125th birthday the City of Vancouver is hosting one of the largest poetry conferences in Canadian history. From October 19-22, twenty poets from the poet rich Downtown Eastside will attend the conference, take in the discussions, and refine their craft. Today’s roundtable is an opportunity for the DTES poets who attended the conference to share with each other and the public their thoughts on the conference, and how it may have shaped their ideas concerning poetry in the Downtown Eastside. Join Governor General’s Award winning poet Fred Wah and City of Vancouver Poet Laureate Brad Cran as they lead a roundtable discussion on contemporary poetry and its craft as practiced in the Downtown Eastside, the heart of our City. Free