Juno What To Do?

JunoFest
The Junos mean more than a couple hours of overlong acceptance speeches. This weekend, Vancouver lights up with live concerts. 100 acts from across the country have gigs in town (and half of those are locals). Grab a $30 wristband from Ticketmaster to ensure yourself priority access. Then start figuring your schedule: Vancouver’s chameleon songstress Kinnie Star can be caught Friday at Bar None (Midnight); the local punk phenom You Say Party We Say Die! plays a Midnight show at the Biltmore Saturday; and prairie rockers Wide Mouth Mason are at the Bourbon at 11:15 p.m., Saturday.

For the weekend’s complete program, visit Junofest.ca

Songwriters’ Circle
Two-time Juno award-winner Hawksley Workman has penned songs for Scrubs, Falcon Beach, Whistler, and Cartier’s LOVE campaign. This weekend he hosts the Songwriters’ Circle, an intimate event where he and eight other superstar Canadian songwriters—like Hedley’s Jacob Hoggard, and Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor, to name a few—will reveal the secrets of their creative processes and share the songs and stories behind their music. Always a JunoFest favourite, this event is known for on-the-spot collaborative songwriting and impromptu performances. March 29 at 12pm, Centre in Vancouver for the Performing Arts.

For more information, visit Junosongwriterscircle.ca

Juno Cup
A team of 31 Canadian artists including Aaron Pritchett, Sarah McLachlan, 54-40’s Matt Johnson, and State of Shock’s Cam Melnyk and Jesse Wainwright take to the ice at UBC’s Thunderbird arena in a head-to-head battle against a roster of NHL alumni that features Dave Babych, Lanny McDonald and ex-Canucks Cliff Ronning and Greg “Gus” Adams. Word is the hockey greats don’t go easy on the “rockers” so keep an eye out for toothless grins during Sunday night’s acceptance speeches. March 27 at 7:30 PM, UBC Thunderbird Arena.

For more information, visit Junocup.ca

WestJet Street Party
Musicians and singers from all over Canada converge on three outdoor stages in over 70 performances celebrating the Junos. The 800 block of Granville Street will be party central on Friday night as acts like Elise Estrada, Divine Brown, Eva Avila and The Trews bring their Top 40 hits to the Vancouver Radio Stage starting at 4:15pm. March 26-29, Granville Street.

For full schedule, visit Junofest.ca

Juno Awards
The 38th annual Juno Awards will take place at capacious GM Place but you’ll likely hear better on that new Bose setup in the living room. Russell Peters hosts the two-hour broadcast, which includes 14 performances. Non-bathroom break opportunities are: Bryan Adams, Great Big Sea (with Hawksley Workman), Nickelback, and Sarah McLachlan. Not all the stars are singing, but one can still discuss the clothing on k.d. lang, Michael Buble, Feist, Hedley, Elvis Costello, and the rest of the CanPop gang. Red carpet dishing starts Sunday at 4 p.m. on CTV. At 5 p.m., CTV has the live ceremony broadcast, too, with a 9 p.m. encore broadcast the same night.

Tickets to the live show and all events listed above available at Ticketmaster, 604-280-4444.