Vancouver Area August 2020 Free Events

Be safe and healthy: remember 2m physical distancing and be kind to others and wear a face mask! Don’t forget to check back each week for updates.

All the regular in-person big events have been cancelled, gone virtual, or are blended. Note: Eventbrite has a list of free daily events that you can filter by date and category. Don’t forget to check “Ongoing Free Events” section in this blog. 

to Aug 3 Pride Week is going mainly virtual: Art Walk (West End), Drag Story Time, What’s In My Box? (watch live as a giant box of wacky items is delivered to an unsuspecting drag performer), Symphonic Pride, Film Night (Trout Lake Park), etc.

to Aug 8 Carnaval Del Sol Across the Americas  Online fiesta on YouTube & Facebook.

Aug 1 – 2  Maple Ridge Caribbean Days, Maple Ridge Fairgrounds. 2 large stages with continuous music, food and street vendors, large kid zone. Remember 2 m social distancing and good idea to wear your masks.

Aug 1 -3 Icelandic Festival of Manitoba: Islendingadagurinn 2020. Festival has gone virtual and international! Art Show, Fashion Show, History Parade, Culture and Heritage Pavilion, Ask an Islander, contests (running races, sand castle photo, family scavenger hunt, lawn parade) and more! Please consider giving a donation or participating in their 50/50. Interesting tidbit: Icelanders were lured to settle in the Manitoba Lake area in 1875 because they were considered “sturdy settlers” to solidify Canada’s claim to the new territory.

Aug 1 – 29 Monsoon Arts Festival Free and paid digital events celebrating South Asian, Canadian, and international dance, music, theatre, comedy, and visual art. Free workshops for children and adults.

Aug 5 – 15 Vines Art Festival Except for the in-person opening ceremonies in various parks, this eco- and justice-minded festival will be mostly online this year. Registration required for Aug 5 opening ceremonies.

Aug 9 & 23, Sep 13 Ladner Village Market, 10am – 3pm, 48th Ave. between Delta and Elliott Streets. For 2020, food vendors only: fresh produce, prepared foods, edible plants.

Aug 11-12  Perseid Meteor Shower. Best time to view (100 meteors per hour) is from sunset to midnight and the few hours before dawn away from light pollution. Weaker meteor show until Aug 26.

to Aug 28 Wind Festival for the Arts. Virtual livestream concerts, workshops, and story telling sponsored by Squamish Arts Council. Live mural painting and neighbourhood music in Squamish.

Aug 14 – 17 VegfestUK Summerfest Online 2020  “Exhibitors, special offers, Live streams, headline acts, talks and demos, debates, activism, workshops, comedy, live music and entertainment, Kids entertainment.”

Aug 15 – 16 Bill Reid’s Centennial Birthday Bash: artist demonstrations/interviews and exhibition tours via livestream. Free admission with a pre-booked timed ticket. Reserve ticket early or watch events virtually.

Aug 18 – Sep 7 Vancouver Mural Festival. Instead of a street festival, 60 new murals in 9 neighbourhoods over 3 weeks.

Aug 19  PoPUpOPERA mini-concerts with soprano Chloé Hurst. “Please wear a mask and a smile!”

• 3:30-3:45pm John Hendry Park / Trout Lake Community Centre, Victoria Drive & E 19th.
• 4:30-4:45pm Beaconsfield Park, Slocan & E 17th
• 5:30-5:45pm Italian Cultural Centre piazza, Grandview Highway & Slocan

Aug 21  PoPUpOPERA at Sun Yat-Sen Gardens with soprano Chloé Hurst. 5:30 and 6:30 at Keefer St entrance. “Please wear a mask and a smile!”

Aug 21 – Sep 13 “A Seat at the Table,” Fri-Sun, 10am – 4pm, Hon Hsing Building, 27 E. Pender St, Vancouver. Museum of Vancouver’s travelling exhibition of personal stories of Chinese Immigration to BC. “Visitors are invited to share their experiences as Chinese Canadians, or their interactions with Chinese Canadians in their community, or their experiences as migrants living in a new place. Visitors can choose to share their stories on camera, through in-person interviews, in writing or simply by placing a marker on a map.” Free registration for timed tickets required: https://museumofvancouver.ca/a-seat-at-the-table-ccm

Aug 28 – Sep 7 Richmond Maritime Festival: Re-Imagined Online event: Check daily @FunRichmond Facebook page or RichmondMaritimeFestival.ca for daily schedule.

Ongoing Free Events: Click on site to check for changes in opening hours. Note: some sites may require or encourage you to wear face masks.

To control the # of people entering BC Parks trails, 100 free day-use passes are released each day at 6am online. Please check site for which trails within a BC Park require a pass. Eg. For Cypress Park: Yew Lake Trail & Four Lakes Loop do not need a pass; but Black Mountain Plateau, Hollyburn, and Howe Sound Crest do. Note: it was difficult to get a pass when this system 1st started, but I was just on the ticket site at 2pm, Aug 10, and passes were still available for Cypress except for Howe Sound Crest AM.

to Sep 6 Burnaby Village Museum, free admission, 11am – 4:30pm, Wed-Sun. Reopened Jul 15. Carousel closed.

Bard Around Town With no Bard On the Beach during COVID, Max Forsyth, Bard’s Operations Coordinator, introduces us to Bard around Vancouver. Learn more about Vancouver’s stories through this new series of ~10-min videos  eg. Tudor Revival, Stanley Park, etc.

Starry Nights at SFU’s Trottier Observatory and Science Courtyard. Starts one hour after sunset. Weather dependent. Join their email list to be notified of events and on-the-day cancellations. Children/families can earn a free telescope with a 50mm objective lens, a finderscope, tripod, and two eyepieces by attending workshops and starry nights.

Britannia Shipyards, 5180 Westwater Drive, Richmond. Normally offers free admission year round. Open in Aug? Some buildings from 1885. May 1-Sep 30: 10am-5pm; Oct 1-Apr 30: 12-5pm

Vancouver Art Gallery  Sundays: children 12 and under free. Open as of June 15.

Bill Reid Gallery, first Friday of the month, 2-5pm, free admission thanks to partnership of Vancouver Airport.  SFU students, indigenous people, and children 12 and under are always free. 639 Hornby St, Vancouver. Open as of June 6.

Museum of Vancouver  Reopened Jun 11, Thurs-Sun 10-4 only. Free for indigenous people.

Vancouver Farmers’ Markets  Organized by day of the week.

Metro Vancouver Farmers’ Markets by Yoyo Mama. Find market by selecting city.

Virtual Concerts: 

• “Nashville’s iconic Grand Old Opry House, renowned for its country music and one of the most famous music venues in the world, is streaming free, live virtual country music concerts each Saturday night from its stage. These shows can be viewed on Facebook Live and YouTube, and can also be accessed on-demand after the performance.”
• NYC’s Metropolitan Opera “Every night, the Met streams encore presentations of operas for free on its website and through its app. It’s showing a selection of stage performances from the past 14 years. The famed company also recently started a series of pay-per-view recitals streamed live, which cost $20 a concert. These concerts feature leading singers from around the world who perform via satellite at various venues.”
• “The Colorado Symphony posts a new virtual music hour video each week that then becomes available for streaming. Each session includes an introduction from a symphony musician or conductor about the music that will be played, an audio recording of the symphony, and activities and discussion questions that can be done before and after listening.”

Events For Kids

• Active for Life’s virtual summer “day camp”:  Jul 6 – Aug 24, a different theme every week with games, activities, crafts, book recommendations, etc.
• KC Edventures list of 30+ Free Online Summer Camps for kids & teens
• Wide Open School Pre-K to Gr 5 Virtual Summer Camp  Each week has a different focus.
• Camp Wonderopolis Five different camps to choose from dealing with music, STEM, etc.
• Mentoring the Stars Foundation: free online tutoring service conceived by a UBC student to initially help essential workers’ children during the pandemic. Has expanded with more volunteers to help all children.
• Toys R Us normally has free family events where children make and take their creations. However, all in-store events have been cancelled until further notice. Check for online events.
• Not an event, but since kids are home a lot: 200+ Free Educational Resources

Suspended ongoing free events until further notice:

• Home Depot Workshops for adults and kids. Kids and adult workshops are paused until further notice.
• Free Geek Vancouver: Open Night Help Wednesdays, 6:30-9:30pm, suspended until further notice. 1820 Pandora St, Vancouver. Hardware grants also suspended until further notice.

Ongoing Inexpensive Events or Discounts:

Tourism Vancouver–check out all the deals at attractions and hotels for BC residents

Sea to Sky Gondola: Sunset Fridays & Saturdays. 40% off day tickets after 4pm. Last download 8pm. Limited tickets and pre-order online.

Cineplex $5 tickets for all experiences + $2.99 Tuesdays for a limited time.  Cineplex reopened Riverport, Metropolis, Langley, and Scotia Bank Jul 3. Other Cineplex theatres will slowly reopen later in July. All purchases by credit/debit cards. Concession purchases are limited. Wearing of masks strongly encouraged. Patrons expected to remain in their seats during movie. Saturday 11 am $2.99 Family Favourites will return in Sep.

Museum of Vancouver  Reopened Jun 11, Thurs-Sun 10-4 only. Show VanCity member/VISA card to receive 50% off admission for member + one friend at ticket counter. Otherwise, all other tickets must be purchased online for timed admissions.

Vancouver Art Gallery Tues, 5 – 8 pm, admission is by donation. Gallery reopened Jun 15.

Capilano Suspension Bridge.  If you’re a BC resident, you may purchase an annual pass for just the price of a regular daily ticket at their e-store. Annual pass provides you with 10%-15% off regular prices at site gift shops and eateries plus more! The Bridge opened Jun 19. Note all admissions must be purchased/booked online.

Admissions by donation suspended until further notice:

• Beaty Biodiversity Museum reopens Jul 14, but their admission by donation on 3rd Thurs of every month, Nocturnal Beaty 5:00-8:30 pm, has been put on pause. However, every Wed at 1pm is Beaty@Home Live: Discovery Lab. Also check out what Beaty deems as their top 100 treasures.
• Maritime Museum reopened Jun 11, 1905 Ogden Ave, Vancouver. Thurs 5-8 pm admission by donation program suspended until further notice because there are no evening openings.
• Museum of Vancouver, last Thurs of every month, 5 – 8 pm, admission by donation. First Tuesday of every month is $5 admission for seniors (65+ yrs). Aforementioned suspended for now.
• BC Sports Hall of Fame 1/2 Price Admission. Note: still closed due to COVID, but once open: “Be sure to save that ticket stub for all BC Place events, Vancouver Whitecaps, BC Lions and Vancouver Canucks games! Show it at the front desk for 1/2 price admission to the BC Sports Hall of Fame valid 2 weeks before or after the game day.”
• Southam Observatory at the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre, 1100 Chestnut St, Vancouver. Star gazing by donation every Sat, 7 – 11 pm, temporarily suspended.
• Roedde House Museum, 1415 Barclay Street, Vancouver. Should reopen at the end of July to timed visits purchased on line. Do not know if admission by donation for last Fri of every month will still be in place.  In the meantime, enjoy a self-guided free virtual tour of Roedde.