Pre-Festival Events

Workshops
BIG HOUSE WORKSHOPS

AUTUMN LEAF MOBILES and LIGHT-CARRIER MAKING
with Bill Beauregarde and Candice Curlypaws
Thursdays October 9 & October 16, 11am – 3pm
Aboriginal Front Door, 384 Main

LIGHT-CARRIER MAKING with Haisla Collins and Candice Curlypaws
Mondays October 20 & October 27, 5:30pm – 8pm
Cultural Sharing, Carnegie Theatre, 401 Main

autumn leaves

Celebrate our cultural communities through story-sharing, snacks, hands-on crafting and exploring what keeps the home fires burning. Learn to make simple, elegant “light carrier” lanterns on the theme of what keeps your spirit alive in dark winter times. Make one for the Heart of the City Festival, make one for yourself, or join in on crafting a large community phoenix lantern. No experience necessary. Free

YELLOW ROSES AND A CUP OF TEA
with Rosemary Georgeson, Ali Lohan and Sarah May Redmond

Fridays October 24 & October 31, 2pm – 4pm
Oppenheimer Ladies Tea Party, Oppenheimer Park, 488 Powell Street

“I can see my memories dancing in the gentle wisps of steam flowing up from my cup of tea, my grandmother’s yellow roses are here today. What words and memories play for you?” Please come out and share some thoughts, words and memories with us over a fragrant cup of tea at the Oppenheimer Park Ladies Tea Party – a free workshop for self-declared women.


Action
HOMELESSNESS ACTION WEEK
October 12 to 18

Homelessness Action Week is an annual event focused on bringing public awareness and understanding to the issue of homelessness in the Greater Vancouver region. This week is an opportunity to get involved in homelessness action in your community by attending events, and spreading the word about homelessness action through education, advocacy, and  social media activity. For event information: www.stophomelessness.ca


Visual Arts
WINDOW/COMMUNITY Louise Francis-Smith
Opening: Friday October 17, 7pm – 11pm
Gam Gallery, 110 E. Hastings
Exhibition October 18 to November 14
Free

Louise Francis-Smith photo - Hastings BarberMeet artist documentarian Louise Francis-Smith and view Window/Community, an exhibition of her photographs. For over thirty years Louise has focused her lens on the architecture and people in the streets of historic Chinatown and the Downtown Eastside. Her work captures the streets half-undressed, when morning light brings its warmth and beauty to old wood and brick buildings. The derelict and the patina, old and new, ruin and renovation, collide in images that belong to the decades-old genre of street photography, revealing the human condition below the surface of things. Her work reflects and uncovers layers of complexity in this vibrant and sometimes heartbreaking neighbourhood.

Hours: Fri and Sat, 1pm-5pm and by appointment www.gamgallery.com


Convention
DTES SRO TENANT CONVENTION
Sunday October 19, 12pm – 5pm
Japanese Language School, 487 Alexander

SRO Tenants and Friends: Come together to achieve housing justice! Join us for a day of solidarity speakers, workshops on housing issues, and prizes! Meet other tenants and work together to stop renovictions and improve conditions in SROs.

Enter the Crummiest Cockroach Haven Contest where the SRO hotels with the worst living conditions will be voted on and help pressure the City to make landlords improve them. For contest details contact the CCAP office on the second floor of Carnegie.

Stew and bannock, on-site childcare and ASL interpretation will be provided. The Hall is wheelchair accessible. For more info: sro.convention@gmail.com or 604-665-2105. Organized by the Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP).

Other times of the day: Everyone Is Welcome! Free


Talk
ART MUSIC’S INDIGENOUS INCLUSIONS AND THE POLITICS OF FORM with Dylan Robinson
Monday October 20, 7pm
Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre, SFU Woodwards, 149 W. Hastings

Concerti for throat singers, operas on Indigenous subjects, and powwow symphonies. Despite collaborations between Indigenous artists and classical music ensembles, the political exigencies of First Nations communities across Canada are scarcely referenced in such work. Dylan Robinson, a Stó:lō scholar and Banting postdoctoral fellow in the First Nations Studies Program at UBC, talks about the space between classical and Indigenous musical forms, and the attendant politics of recognition that often celebrates Indigenous inclusion at the cost of political engagement. Presented by SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement as part of Vancouver New Music’s Alternative Energies: Sound and Sustainability Events in the Community.

Admission is on a first come, first serve basis. Free


Workshops
INDIAN ACTS! COMING TO THE FIRE
Tuesday October 21 1:30pm – 4:30pm
Wednesday October 22 1:30pm – 4:30pm
Thursday October 23 1:30pm – 4:30pm
Friday October 24 12:30pm – 2:30pm
Tuesday October 28 1:30pm – 4:30pm

Carnegie Community Centre Gym, 401 Main

Ignite your imagination! Be part of a new theatrical performance being developed by renowned Canadian actor and artist, Margo Kane (Cree-Saulteaux). Open to people from all walks of life, all cultural backgrounds and all ages. An interest in performing is all that is required. Through a series of workshops, you will work alongside professional artists to create a work that celebrates the Aboriginal practices of gathering and sharing and ensures the voice of the community is Idle No More! Presented by Full Circle: First Nations Performance is association with Vancouver Moving Theatre and the Heart of the City Festival.

Workshops are free and participants are encouraged to attend all workshops in the series. For more information contact: Kwasuun at Full Circle, 604-683-0497 or email: kwasuun@fullcircle.ca

Indian Acts! Coming to the fire - shutterstock image


Theatre
JUDGE DEE’S CHINATOWN HAUNTED HOUSE
October 21 to 31, 7pm – 10pm (entry every 2 minutes)
Closed Mon Oct 27
Warning: Not for young children or the faint of heart!
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, 578 Carrall
Adults $12, Students $10

It’s Hallowe’en … and the Garden … is HAUNTED. Join Seven Tyrants Theatre again this year at Vancouver’s fastest growing Hallowe’en treat. The theatre company transforms the Classical Chinese Garden into a terrifying Haunted House. Featuring over a dozen actors, dancers and musicians, this one-of-a-kind experience is inspired by the gruesome stories of Judge Dee: China’s Sherlock Holmes. Brave the Garden’s haunted pathways, uncover the clues and attempt to solve the crime. Due to the increasing popularity of the event, fright seekers are advised to arrive early.

For more information go to www.seventyrants.com. Tickets available at the box office each night or in advance at www.ticketstonight.ca


Panel Discussion
RED SKIN, WHITE MASKS: Rejecting the Colonial Politics of Recognition
Wednesday October 22, 7pm
Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre, SFU Woodwards, 149 W. Hastings

Red Skin, White Masks, by Glen Coulthard, is a work of critically engaged political theory that challenges the commonplace assumption that settler-colonization can be reconciled through a process of cultural recognition and accommodation. Glen Coulthard is Yellowknives Dene and is an assistant professor in the First Nations Studies Program and the Department of Political Science at SFU. Panelists: Rita Kaur Dhamoon, Sarah Hunt, Jarrett Martineau, Matt Hern. Moderated by Daniel Heath Justice. Presented by SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Sup- ported by UBC First Nations Studies Program, SFU’s Office for Aboriginal Peoples and SFU’s Institute for Humanities.

Admission is on a first come, first serve basis. Free


Community Celebration
HALLOWE’EN CARNIVAL & HAUNTED HOUSE
Friday October 24, 3:15pm-5pm
Strathcona Community Centre Gym, 601 Keefer

Cost is 50¢ or a can of food for the Food Bank.

Come out to the annual Hallowe’en Carnival and Haunted House and have a Spooktacular time! Organized by the Strathcona Youth Council and Leadership Groups, the Carnival will have fun games and challenges. Participate, play and everybody leaves with a prize! Do your best to help out the Food Bank and families in need; if you can’t, that is all right too!


Film
WORLD POETRY PEACE AND HUMAN RIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL

Saturday October 25, 10:30am – 10:30pm

UBC Learning Exchange, 612 Main
Free 

This one-day festival of film celebrates the courage and persistence of young filmmakers from across the world, including Canada, India and Afghanistan. Featuring themes of poetry, peace and human rights in conflict areas, some of these films were created against all odds. Join in for a day of documentaries and Q&As with filmmakers and poets. Emcees are Ariadne Sawyer and Victor Schwartzman plus other hosts. For full film schedule and showtimes please visit www.worldpoetry.ca.


Kids
MACLEAN PARK PUMPKIN PATCH PARTY
Saturday October 25, 12pm – 3pm, or until the pumpkins are gone
MacLean Park, 710 Keefer
Free

jack-o-lantern_1018235iRain or shine! For the children of the Downtown Eastside. Lots of fun things to do – free pumpkins, face painting, arts and crafts, pumpkin carving and refreshments. Come dressed in your Hallowe’en costume. Don’t be disappointed – come early! Only one pumpkin per family. A Strathcona Community Centre program.


Community Celebration
THE ANNUAL FAMILY HALLOWE’EN DANCE
Saturday October 25, 6pm – 9pm
Strathcona Community Centre Gym, 601 Keefer
Admission by cash or food donation

Come dance the monster mash and have your face painted at this spooktacular all-ages family dance. Organized by neighbourhood parents, this community event has become a favourite Strathcona family tradition. Get into costume and party with your neighbour-ghoul families! Admission by cash or food donation to support the SCC Food Security Program for families.


Workshop
COAST SALISH SINGING & DRUMMING with Russell Wallace
Monday October 27, 7pm – 9pm
Djavad Mowafaghian World Art CentreRussell Wallace - Coastal Drumming Workshop
SFU Woodwards, 149 W. Hastings St.

Free and open to the public on a drop-in basis.

Everyone welcome! Join us and learn social songs, drumming and dance. Russell Wallace is a board member for Warriors Against Violence Society and is a composer, producer and a traditional Lil’wat singer. Currently Russell works and teaches at the Native Education College, and works for the Office for Aboriginal People for which he holds these Singing & Drumming workshops. This is a monthly workshop – watch for it again on November 20.