July 23 edition: Is Vancouver vanilla?

Hey there. The heat has broken and we may finally be able to sleep without fans blowing full-power directly into our faces! 

It’s time to feel slightly more human again, before the inevitable smoke season that’s looming on the horizon makes its way westward. Summers: they don’t make ‘em like they used to. But at least we’ll always have delicious local ice cream and a beautiful ocean to curb the worst of it.

— V. 
Associate Editor

FEATURE

Miniature artists know it’s all about the little things

Tracy Ealdama never expected to become a miniaturist. But when she started making toys for her kids, she got obsessed. “I thought, ‘Wow: the smaller it got, the cuter it got!’” she recalls. Three local miniature artists with three different techniques tell us all about the good things that come in small packages.

CITY & CULTURE

Vancouver Fetish Weekend celebrates a decade of kink positivity

Vancouver Fetish Weekend organizer Isaac Terpstra has a mildly damning opinion of the city: it’s “pretty vanilla.” But that hasn’t stopped the annual kink celebration from surviving for 10 years here. “It’s a weird little paradise to find common ground, bond, and play,” he explains. In other words, it’s about so much more than being horny.

• Photos: Did you catch the Buck Moon this weekend?

• Giant floral installations are popping up for Pride

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ARTS

Create! Eastside Arts Festival makes it easy to try something new

The Create! Eastside Arts Festival, a non-stop extravaganza of creativity across a plethora of different mediums. The festival focuses on getting participants to embrace their own artsy side through a huge number of workshops. “People are so creative, but we have these blocks within us that tell us we can’t make things,” explains textile artist Ava Katz, who’s running an introduction to embroidery class. “I want to encourage people to follow their creative impulses.”

• Review: Colin Mochrie proves there’s always time for the OGs

• Great Outdoors Comedy Festival lineup adds Dan Soder, Ralph Barbosa, and more

•  Theatre Under the Stars presents a pair of Broadway blockbusters - CATS and School of Rock - this July and August in Stanley Park!*

• Multi award-winning, stand-up comedy superstar John Bishop is finally coming to the US and Canada this Summer with his ‘Back At It’ Tour.*

*sponsored listing

SPONSORED BY EASTSIDE ARTS SOCIETY

Summer park vibes bring art, beer, and music together July 27th in Strathcona Park

Explore your creative side in sunny Strathcona Park on Saturday, July 27th with the Create! Eastside Arts Festival! Art workshops for all ages and abilities, FREE live music concert, public art, art shop, food trucks and beer garden.

Purchase an art workshop ticket for the Create! Eastside Arts festival and get a 2nd art workshop ticket at 50% off. 

MUSIC

What’s In Your Fridge: Ryan “Drums” Mason of Mossy Ledge

It’s a good sign when a person’s nickname is exactly what they do. It’s like meeting a barista called “Coffee” or a gardener known to all as “Plants.” Ryan “Drums” Mason plays skins in long-time pop-rock band Mossy Ledge, and he talked to us about everything from his first concert to his opinion on optimum chocolate storage.

• What a throwback: Swollen Members are coming together for a Hollywood Theatre show

• Daryl Hall (hold the Oates) will perform at the PNE

• English singer-songwriter Rex Orange Country is doubling up at the Queen E

• Whistler Summer Concert Series features free performances including Bahamas, Astrocolor, Trans-Canada Highwaymen, Boy & Bear, and Boo Seeka. See the full line-up here.*

*sponsored listing

FOOD & DRINK

Five outrageous foods to try at the Richmond Night Market

You know what would be a great use of the cooler evenings this week? Going to the Richmond Night Market and trying out all the fantastic things you can only find there. We’ve scoured the vendors and identified five of the wildest things you’d be a fool to miss. Remember to show up hungry—real hungry.

• The team behind The Keefer Bar is opening a new spot in Cambie Village

• Calgary-based Central Restaurants to open its first Vancouver location

• Coast Restaurant is offering buck-a-shuck oysters on August 5

THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK

PERFORMING ARTS
Show on Earth showcases Indonesian shadowplay with Gamelan instruments, western strings, and interactive projections. (July 23 @ Performance Works) 

VISUAL ARTS 
Sally Clark’s 1970s paintings show the era’s vivid zeitgeist in PLAY! A Retro-Speculative. (July 23 to August 29 @ Lipont Gallery, Richmond)

MUSIC
Word has it that indie rock group Gossip is coming to town, pass it on. (July 24 @ Vogue Theatre)

PERFORMING ARTS
Audio play Disability Tour Bus follows a young wheelchair user navigating Vancouver’s inaccessible infrastructure. (July 24 @ online)

DANCE
Choreographer Rebecca Margolick and violinist Hannah Epperson show a snippet of their cross-disciplinary new work Catenary. (July 25 @ Scotiabank Dance Centre)

MUSEUM 
Museum of Vancouver’s curator of urban cultures Denise Fong and collaborator Young-Tack (YT) Oh lead a tour of Mirage: Disused Public Property in Taiwan. (July 25 @ Museum of Vancouver)

SHOPPING
Granville Island hosts a week-long pop-up of five local, mindful, Asian women-run businesses. (To July 28 @ Net Loft)

Want to know what else is happening in Vancouver? Check out our events listings.

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