Cherry blossoms and spring festivals abound this long weekend around Metro Vancouver. Check out the big list of things to do, from Spring Break activities to egg hunts and fun on the farm:
The Big Roar on April 13, 2024 features the singing of all of Chor Leoni’s programs and choirs in an uplifting and hope-filled celebration of the human voice. You can enter to win tickets!
Photo by Phil Jack
Chor Leoni – The Big Roar
Date: April 13, 2024 at 5:00pm
Location: St Andrew-Wesley’s United (1022 Nelson St, Vancouver)
Experience the choral spectacle at Chor Leoni’s annual singing festival, The Big Roar. Chor Leoni, the MYVoice youth choir, The Leonids, and the Emerging Choral Artist Program join forces for an evening of singing.
Celebrate Vancouver’s thriving singing community and experience choral music. The concert will feature a wide variety of songs, from an arrangement of Visayan lullaby and choral classes such as We Rise Again, to world premier of new pieces by Canadian composers Laura Hawley and Chris Sivak. View the Concert Program online.
The Leonids is an eight-member professional ensemble under the direction of Chor Leoni’s Artistic Director Erick Lichte. The ensemble serves as the professional headline choir for Chor Leoni’s annual The Big Roar Choral Summit and as an educational, inspirational, and aspirational force for this festival and beyond.
Enter to Win
You can enter to win a pair of tickets to The Big Roar, here’s how:
Also taking place the week of The Big Roar is Harmonia: The Leonids & Chor Leoni on April 11, 2024. Enjoy a fully a cappella program celebrating harmony and featuring a diverse selection of Chant, Polyphony, folk, pop, and world premieres, including work from Canadian composer Robyn Jacob.
Megaphone Magazine‘s Big Sell and website launch takes place on April 5, 2024 aimed at improving digital sales for low-income vendors and showcasing community journalism.
Megaphone Magazine Big Sell
Date: April 5, 2024 from 2:00pm to 5:00pm
Location: Corner of Granville and Georgia Street
Join Megaphone, Denim & Steel and more than 15 vendors on Friday, April 5, 2024 at the corner of Granville and Georgia Street for the Megaphone Magazine’s Big Sell. The Big Sell will feature vendors of Megaphone Magazine as well as other Megaphone goods. Additionally, Megaphone will launch it’s new website on the same date, aimed at improving digital sales for low-income vendors and showing community journalism.
Megaphone provides low-barrier work opportunities through magazine writing, reporting, and vending. Each vendor buys the paper for 75 cents and sells it for $2 (plus tips). Megaphone is an autonomous way for those facing barriers to traditional employment to make an income. Last year, Megaphone launched an initiative called The Shift, dedicated to making the newsroom more inclusive by training aspiring journalists from the communities they serve.
Follow Megaphone on Facebook for updates and more information.
The Skoden Indigenous Film Festival is a two-day, student-led film festival that features exclusively Indigenous filmmakers and creatives from across Canada April 6-7, 2024.
Skoden Indigenous Film Festival 2024
Date: April 6-7, 2024 from 12:00pm to 8:00pm
Location: Djavad Mowafaghain Cinema (SFU School For The Contemporary Arts, 149 W Hastings St, Vancouver)
Founded on the principles of Truth and Reconciliation, Carr Sappier (Wolastoqew) and Grace Mathisen created the festival in 2019. SIFF is organized and led by a class of students from all over SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts and the Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology, and co-taught for the last three years by Carr Sappier and Kathleen Mullen. SIFF features exclusively Indigenous filmmakers and creatives from across Canada, presented in 5 Programs, all thematically different, each ending with a Q&A session.
2024 Programs
Program 1: Retracting Our Roots + Opening Ceremony | April 6, 2024 from 12:00pm to 2:30pm Tracing the roots of a tree is nearly impossible – as soon as they extend into the ground, they become entangled with all of those around them, entering an extensive network of interconnectedness. This is the journey the films of this program embark upon: tracing both the metaphoric (and literal) roots to rekindle a connection to culture, family, land, and more. Films showing during this program include Our Maternal Home (Janine Windolph), Ajjigiingiluktaaqtugut: We Are All Different (Lindsay McIntyre), Our Grandmother: The Inlet (Jamie Leigh Demetra Gianopoulos & Kayah George), and more.
Program 2: Sea to Sky| April 6, 2024 from 3:30pm to 5:20pm From political trances to the political trenches, the films of the Sea to Sky program create an intricate portrait of nature from diverse Indigenous perspectives. These films serve as reminders that our environment, with all its life and resources, is something to admire contemplatively, to defend actively, and to respect with reverence. Films showing include Keepers of The Land (Deidre Leowinata and Douglas Neasloss), On the Land – Ice Fishing (Alysha Johnny Hawkins), Lii Bufloo Aen Loo Kishkishiw (Dianne Ouellette), and more.
Program 3: Stronger Together| April 6, 2024 from 6:00pm to 8:15pm The colonization of Turtle Island was accompanied by violent acts of assimilation and genocide that sought to separate Indigenous peoples from their family, communities, and culture. The films of this program aim to shine a light on the impact giving people a platform to tell their personal experiences with the Residential School system, hoping to heal the deep wounds they inflicted. Program 3 features March with Arch (Toby Mak) and Waapake: Tomorrow (Jules Arita Koostachin).
Program 4: Planting the Seed | April 7, 2204 from 1:00pm to 2:45pm Planting a seed is a new beginning. An opportunity to grow and develop new experiences both on our own and with loved ones that we find along the way. With the powerful storytelling and traditional practices found in these films, this program hopes to inspire youth to find meaning within themselves and value their unique experiences with bright colours, creativity, and Indigenous pride. Films showing include My Girl (Megan Shott), Abaznoda: Basket (Charlotte Gauthier-Nolett), To a Proud Generation (Cheyenne Flamand and Jimmy Clary), and more.
Program 5: All My Affections| April 7, 2024 from 3:30pm to 6:05pm Adapted from the phrase “All My Relations” used by many Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island, this program seeks to explore the interconnectedness of diverse emotions and experiences that affect all Indigenous lives. Digging deep into ongoing histories of violence and uplifting acts of resilience, these films showcase representations of what it means to be Indigenous and refuse attempts at reduction. Films showing include Conviction (Bruce Thomas Miller), Kiwolathmushis (Asha Bear), Miss Campbell: Inuk Teacher (Heather Campbell) and more.
Closing & Award Ceremonies | April 7, 2024 from 6:20pm to 7:25pm Join in to witness the closing ceremonies and presentation of awards.
Skoden Indigenous Film Festival is organized and led by a class of students from all over SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts and the Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology, and co-taught for the last three years by Carr Sappier and Kathleen Mullen.
Diwali Fest presents Colour Fest; a celebration of the spring festivals Holi and Vaisakhi at Town Centre Park in Coquitlam on May 18, 2024. The festival features music and dance performances by South Asian artists and a “Colour Zone” where participants can cover each other in colourful powder.
Diwali Fest photo
Colour Fest in Coquitlam
Date: Saturday, May 18, 2024
Location: Town Centre Park (1299 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam)
Tickets not required for access to Artisan Market or Food trucks.
Colour Fest is a celebration of spring festivals Holi and Vaisakhi. This multi-dimensional festival features a live DJ, music and dance performances by South Asian artists, multicultural food trucks, vendors, and free art activities for kids.
About Diwali Fest
Diwali Fest originated in 2004 as the Vancouver Celebrates Diwali Festival, and has since evolved to become one of the largest Diwali-themed events in the Lower Mainland. What started as a one day, volunteer-driven event has evolved to the point where it is a professionally staffed festival that has become a destination event on the City’s cultural calendar. Follow Diwali Fest on Facebook for info about the festival and more events.
