Community Celebrations+ Dialogues
Festival Opening Celebration
Friday October 31, 1pm – 3pm
Carnegie Community Centre Theatre, 401 Main Free
Step into the spirit of the season as we open the 22nd Annual Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival!
This afternoon Festival celebration welcomes warmth, mischief, and kinship, and features many fantastic Festival artists! Expect haunting poetry from Lady Die, cast members from the runaway hit Mayor of Oz of the Carnegie Learning Centre, spectral puppetry by Gerardo Avila from Spirit Encounters, music by DTES darling Heidi Morgan, and poetry by Vancouver Poet Laureate Elee Kraljii Gardiner. With opening welcome and remarks from Carnegie Elders-in-Residence Marr Dorvault and Leslie Nelson, words from VMT Board President Ann McDonell, the Carnegie Community Centre, and hosted by Heart of the City leadership, Lalia Fraser and Alexandra (Ali) McDougall, this gathering invites us to honour Dignity in Community — and celebrate the creative heart of the Downtown Eastside.
All are welcome. Refreshments will be served.
Halloween Festival Kick Off, with BODY PROOF
Friday October 31, 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Carnegie Community Centre Theatre, 401 Main Free
Kick up your heels and get ready for a spooky time at the DTES Halloween Festival Kick Off! Wear your best costume, walk the red carpet, enter the costume contest to win awesome prizes, and gear up for disco-ball dancing with DJ Maxi and crew spinning tunes.
With a special appearance — here comes BODY PROOF! Five Vancouver choreographers in residence at MascallDance join the fun at the Heart of the City Festival Kick Off. Dance with Marisa Gold, Ysadora Dias, Tobias Macfarlane, Nick Miami Benz and Mario Matias, who will throw their mix of favourite dance moves and fragments of their ancestries onto the dance floor.
It’s a Halloween night of masquerade magic, dance and community fun for friends and families alike — a party to remember! Refreshments provided, everyone welcome! Hosted by the one and only DJ Maxi, aka Lance Lim of the Pigeon Den Art Collective.
Death Café: Dignity in Community
Sunday November 2, 5pm – 7pm
Left of Main, 2nd floor, 211 Keefer
Free. Tickets death-cafe2025.eventbrite.ca
Guided by photographer and filmmaker Tallulah, this year’s Death Café follows the performance of Epigone at Left of Main and invites participants to share tea, snacks, and engage in open, respectful conversations about death and dying in a warm and inclusive space. Rooted in compassion and curiosity, the Death Café creates space for dialogue that is rarely found in daily life. Reflect on dignity, community, and the connections that make life meaningful. This is a non-religious event, and is held on the second floor, accessed by a flight of approximately 20 stairs.
Honouring Richard Shorty: Memorial Mural and Reception
Wednesday November 5, 1:30pm – 3pm
Carnegie Theatre, 401 Main Free
Join us in celebrating the life and art of Richard Shorty, and witness the unveiling of one last collaboration with his friends. The Memorial Mural was created by Haisla Collins, Jerry Whitehead, Sharifah Marsden and Brandon Gabriel, and features never-before-seen imagery designed by Richard Shorty. Richard Shorty was a Tutchone artist from Whitehorse, Yukon. His elegant and detailed Northwest Coast formline landscapes and animal renderings inspired generations of artists and enchanted the public. Share a story and enjoy a reception in his honour.
Return of the B.L.O.B. (Better Landlords Organizing Buildings) Town Hall and Community Theatre
Thursday November 6, 6pm – 8pm
Vancouver Japanese Language School & Japanese Hall, 487 Alexander Free
A town hall and community skit where you’ll learn about the City’s plans to gentrify the Downtown Eastside, what community members want that would actually improve the Downtown Eastside, how the current zoning keeps land values low and enables the social housing we need, and about the City’s consultation report that documents community concerns about the gentrification plan. Presented by the Carnegie Housing Project in partnership with Heart of the City Festival. Refreshments provided.
