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May 1 2025: Our guide to DOXA

May 1 2025: Our guide to DOXA

Plus: All the coolest concerts to catch this May

May 01, 2025

Hey there. It’s the first of May (audio NFSW, unless your work is as cool as ours)—but, more importantly, it’s the first Thursday of the month. You know what that means: it’s print edition day!

Find our latest edition in boxes and on racks across the city. After you’re done reading it, newspaper is a great material to keep on-hand. Thrifty gift-wrapping! Craft-night floor coverings! Authentic fish-and-chips plating! The possibilities are limitless.

— V.
Associate Editor

— FEATURE —

20 local Filipino businesses to support

After the Lapu Lapu Festival celebrating a Filipino hero turned into a tragedy, Vancouverites have been looking for ways to help. One meaningful step is championing the local Filipino-owned businesses that help shape the city’s culture and spirit. From home goods to fashion, beauty, and food, these entrepreneurs bring creativity and joy to everyday life.

— CITY & CULTURE —

After an NDP washout, Don Davies is swimming upstream

Nathan Caddell followed Don Davies on the campaign trail to find out how the Vancouver Kingsway MP managed to hang on in a tight election cycle.

Vancouver Whitecaps book trip to CONCACAF final with stunning victory
From custom cow software to homemade ice cream, Rebecca Senicar’s farm is where innovation meets heart. B.C.’s dairy future starts here.*

*sponsored listing

Casey and Diana: The handshake of hope

“I swear, I absolutely swear that hope has a sound.” It’s 1991, the peak of the AIDS crisis. Casey House, Canada’s first freestanding AIDS hospice, receives uplifting news: Diana, Princess of Wales, will be making a historic visit. Inspired by true events, this powerful drama from Vancouver-born playwright Nick Green, reminds us of how community, joy, and compassion can persist, even in the face of an overwhelming pandemic. Experience the transformative moments between Casey House residents, their heroic caregivers, and a rebel princess—and leave the theatre more hopeful.

Learn more in interviews with director Andrew Kushnir and cast members Damien Atkins and Lindsey Angell and get tickets for Casey and Diana from $29 here.

— ARTS —

The Straight guide to DOXA 2025

Movie buff alert: DOXA Festival starts today. Check out our top picks of what to catch at the festival.

30 arts and city events to catch this May
The free Jazz & Arts Festival is returning to Fort Langley
Broadway Across Canada announces 2025/2026 lineup
East Van Laugh Riot and host, Charlie Demers brings the funny along with Randee Neumeyer and Graham Clark with special guests Jess Lupini and Sean Devlin - May 16.*

*sponsored listing

— MUSIC —

30 can’t-miss Vancouver concerts happening in May

There’s so much great music happening in May. Here is just a snippet—a soupcon—a critics’ pick of 30 shows to keep your ears happy this month.

Van Jams: New Vancouver releases from spring 2025
Legends Norma Winstone and Joe LaBarbera join Atlantic Jazz Collective, May 10, and singer and dancer Dobet Gnahoré's band performs West African blues and funk, May 11, at BlueShore at CapU.*
*sponsored listing

— ICYMI —

A Down With Webster superfan is still Prime Minister
How to support Lapu Lapu Festival tragedy victims
Céline Dion celebrated her birthday with a private Ballet BC show
Raise a glass: Bar Susu is closing
A new Burnaby cafe has a trippy name

— THINGS TO DO THIS WEEKEND —

MUSIC: The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s assistant concertmaster David Lakirovich shows off his violin prowess. (May 1 @ Orpheum Theatre)

THEATRE: Every Day She Rose explores the gaps in intersectional thinking between two seemingly aligned friends. (May 1-11 @ Vancity Culture Lab)

THEATRE: The Frontliners, examining the nitty gritty of resettling Syrian refugees, has its premiere. (May 1-11 @ Firehall Arts Centre)

VISUAL ARTS: Simon Grefiel and kiyoshi’s reciprocal exhibition Falsework opens. (May 1-June 14 @ Grunt Gallery)

FOOD & DRINK: Quebec chocolatier Chocolat Favoris opens its first downtown Vancouver location. (May 3 @ 14 Water Street)

SHOPPING: Get some seasonal new goods at the Got Craft Spring Market. (May 3-4 @ Croatian Cultural Centre)

SPORTS: Jog on: the BMO Vancouver Marathon racers are in their starting blocks. (May 4 @ Vancouver Convention Centre)

MUSIC: Vancouver Chinese Music Ensemble performs songs that celebrate nature and culture. (May 4 @ Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden)

—

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

That’s it!

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