5 Things to Do in Vancouver This Week (October 31- November 6)

Your weekly roundup of the top events in the city, including art exhibitions, local theatre, restaurant openings, concerts, film, markets and other to-dos we think you’ll love. If you have a Vancouver event you’d like to submit for consideration, send an email to kdonaldson@canadawide.com. 

Credit: Kwakiutl: Indian Music of the Pacific Northwest, published in 1981 by Folkways Records, photo courtesy of Bill Reid Gallery.

1. Keeping the Song Alive at the Bill Reid Gallery

November 2- March 19

Come witness the Canadian premiere exhibition of Keeping the Song Alive (from November 2 till March 19, 2023) presented by the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art. This exhibition is a rich mix of traditional music and regalia, contemporary art, film, and historical documentation that explores the decades-long work between ethnomusicologist Dr. Ida Halpern and the late Kwakwaka’wakw Chiefs Billy Assu and Mungo Martin to document hundreds of sacred and traditional songs. Guest curated by Cheryl Kaka’solas Wadhams and co-developed with the Jewish Museum & Archives of BC.

When: November 2, 2022- March 19, 2023
Where: Bill Reid Gallery
Cost: From $13
More Info: billreidgallery.ca

Credit: Chelsey Stuyt. Photo courtesy of Theatre Replacement

2. World Premiere of Best Life

November 2-5

Ever wonder what your toaster would say if it could talk? Best Life might help you find an answer. With its premiere at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts on November 2, it asks the age-old question, “What if domestic machines could whisper to us the stories of the people they are caring for?” It’s a new, relational show performed by an audience for an audience, inspired by the machines that make our lives better. Still not convinced? Check out this trailer for it.

When: November 2-5
Where: Shadbolt Centre for the Arts 
Cost: From $15
More Info: theatrereplacement.org

Credit: Music on Main

3. Music on Main’s 2022 Modulus Festival

November 3-8

Looking to expand your musical horizons? There’s a whole new (experimental) music festival coming to Vancouver from Music on Main, featuring musicians from around the world along with some of Vancouver’s favourite performers. It takes place November 3-8 across various venues in Vancouver (the Annex, the Roundhouse, Left of Main and the Ironworks), and the programming is a delightful combination of eccentric and weird. Some highlights at this year’s 2022 Modulus Festival include Nancy Tam and Robyn Jacob’s Double Happiness: Detour This Way (a collection of personal stories of migration from the Chinese diaspora with an art-pop aesthetic), IronFest III (three nights of curated music by Coastal Jazz featuring players from around the world and Modulus musicians) and François Houle’s Canadian premiere of The Secret Lives of Colour (music based on the historical connections between the moods and spirits of colour). Come immerse yourself in all these great live performances coming to Vancouver.

When: November 3-8, 2022
Where: Various venues
Cost: From $32
More Info: musiconmain.ca

Credit: Beyond King Tut

4. National Geographic’s Beyond King Tut

November 4 – January 8

Into history and especially ancient Egypt? Come be immersed in National Geographic’s Beyond King Tut: The Immersive Experience, making its Canadian debut at the Vancouver Convention Centre East. This new multi-gallery, multi-sensory immersive experience brings King Tut’s story to life through the storied archives of the National Geographic Society. It also opens on the 100th anniversary of the discovery of King Tut’s tomb—which ancient-Egypt nerds and I find very cool. 

When: November 4, 2022- January 8, 2023
Where: Vancouver Convention Centre East
Cost: From $31.99
More Info: beyondkingtut.com

Credit: David Cooper, Photo courtesy of Vancouver Cantonese Opera

5. Vancouver Cantonese Opera’s Premiere of The Prop Master’s Dream

November 5

This Saturday, The Prop Master’s Dream wants you to enjoy some fusion opera—a combination of Cantonese Opera, jazz and Indigenous drumming—as it brings to life a hidden piece of Vancouver Chinatown history. Inspired by the true-life story of Wah-Kwan Gwan, a legendary prop master born to a Chinese father and an Indigenous mother in B.C., this opera (presented in Cantonese with English subtitles) follows his journey from Vancouver to China and back again, and explores themes of lost identity, migration, race relations along the way. Come celebrate this moving story and the music of Vancouver’s mid-century Chinatown.

When: November 5
Where: Annex Theatre
Cost: From $35 (plus taxes and service fees)
More Info: vancanopera.com