"VIFF is quickly becoming the archetype of the modern film festival."VIFF 2026—(August 26, 2026) Fall film festival season is on the horizon. Rejoice, as our city's eleven-day arthouse filmmaking showcase, the 45th edition of the Vancouver International Film Festival, is just around the corner next month. Plan accordingly for VIFF's yearly output of mixed-media entertainment programming, anchored by hundreds of Canadian and global films, screened across the city in celebration of contemporary cinema.
"Bringing together the best food and drink has always been at the heart of Brewery and the Beast."False Creek—(August 30, 2026) Back for some late summer, "all-you-can-savour" barbecued meat festivities, the 13th annual Brewery and the Beast Vancouver drew hundreds of hungry diners to Concord Pacific Place for another edition of Western Canada's premier outdoor food and craft beer festival on a refreshingly overcast Sunday mid-afternoon.
"We meet at a critical moment in the history of technology."Waterfront—(May 11 to 14, 2026) For the second year, Web Summit Vancouver's annual multi-day global conference, known as the "Olympics of Tech," gathered 20,235 attendees (up from 15,727 in 2025) spread across three levels of the Vancouver Convention Centre, once again hosted by the titular Dublin-based technology events company.
"Must be all the scissoring!"Fairview Slopes—Starring the appealing former Animal Control actress Kelli Ogmundson, Mitch and Murray Productions stages the North American premiere of British playwright Phoebe Eclair-Powell's gripping but deeply unsettling one-woman play. Harm is a powerful solo performance that requires the proper stamina and emotional range to truly express our toxic culture of digital discomfort and warped social realities through a single person's experiences.
"Discover a world of wine."
"Consent is not a big part of tickling, historically."Mount Pleasant—(February 18, 2026) Vancouver's very own Maddy Kelly, the now New York City-transplanted stand-up comedian, came back to town for another reliably sharp stage performance. Her latest set of jokes mostly delighted the familiar hometown crowd inside the Fox Cabaret music venue located at the nexus of Main Street and Kingsway as part of the city's annual eleven-day Just for Laughs Vancouver comedy festival.
"You're just jealous, because I was an early developer."Commercial Drive—One of my favourite annual traditions of leftist satirical musical propaganda (complimentary), East Van Panto, is back for another year of shared theatrical joy. Theatre Replacement's latest holiday stage production, presented by The Cultch, returned to the York Theatre for its lucky thirteenth edition of love, laughter, and low-income housing.
"This is a festival built on passion, and it shows."VIFF 2025—(August 27, 2025) Fall movie season is just around the corner. This means the city's eleven-day arthouse cinematic showcase, the 44th annual Vancouver International Film Festival, is almost upon us when it returns in a new timeslot at the beginning of next month. Make a plan for VIFF's yearly buffet of multimedia entertainment programming, featuring hundreds of local, national, and international films from across the globe, screened in celebration of contemporary filmmaking.
"Think like NASA engineers, problem-solve like scientists, and dream like explorers."
"Vancouver is one of the world's most beautiful cities, with a flourishing tech community."Waterfront—(May 30, 2025) It sure felt like almost everyone was at the inaugural Web Summit Vancouver multi-day global conference, replacing Collision Conference's five-year run in Toronto. Long considered the "Olympics of Tech" and hosted by the Dublin-based technology events company, the gathering took over three levels of the Vancouver Convention Centre for as many days at the tail end of May.
"This is like the homosexual version of the Make-A-Wish Foundation!"
"I rarely get asked to do [racism] p*rn."UBC—(March 13, 2025) Talented mononymous Nigerian-American late night comedian/interviewer and Black Friend author Ziwe (Fumudoh) brought her stylishly hilarious insights to the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts as part of the 2025 Phil Lind Initiative's accidentally hyper topical ongoing speaker series on the politics of What It Means to Be "American": Navigating Identity in a Changing Nation.
"I wasn't gonna mention the whole fifty-first state thing."UBC—(February 27, 2025) Award-winning Egyptian-American stand-up comedian, actor, screenwriter, and director Ramy Youssef casually captivated a full audience inside the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts as part of the 2025 Phil Lind Initiative's second-year speaker series, discussing the topic of What It Means to Be "American": Navigating Identity in a Changing Nation.
"The wine world is here."
"I miss wanting to win."Granville Island—Arts Club Theatre Company brings celebrated African-American playwright Eboni Booth's 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Drama-winning off-Broadway stage play Primary Trust to Vancouver for its Canadian premiere. It stars Andrew Broderick as the Mai Tai-sipping Kenneth (a role originated by William Jackson Harper), a thirty-eight-year-old suburban bookstore clerk who embarks on a journey of self-discovery after being laid off.
"It's about all the weird ways hamsters die."Mount Pleasant—(February 17, 2025) On a crisp winter Family Day long weekend ("When's Joy Day?") night out, I gathered, amidst a jovial audience, to witness the energetic New York-based, Italian-Jewish-American stand-up comedian co-host a live edition of his semi-popular The Downside with Gianmarco Soresi podcast alongside fellow Uncle Function sketch group sidekick, Broadway performer Russell Daniels, on stage at the Biltmore Cabaret in the middle of the annual ten-day Just for Laughs Vancouver comedy festival.
"This is Lululemon Lake now!"Commercial Drive—It's that time of year again. East Van Panto, Theatre Replacement's wackiest annual holiday stage tradition presented by The Cultch, returned to the York Theatre for its twelfth edition, featuring a very merry band of animal misfits (the "Merry-Thems") in a hyper-localized, joyful musical twist on the outlaw folklore of Robin Hood.
"VIFF is an overflowing, multidimensional, full-tilt celebration of film and film culture."VIFF 2024—(August 28, 2024) Embrace the movies for the city's eleven-day arthouse cinematic celebration when the 43rd annual Vancouver International Film Festival starts at the end of the month. Plan ahead for VIFF's smörgåsbord of multimedia entertainment offerings as hundreds of films from across the continent and world are screened in recognition of contemporary cinema.
