Metro Vancouver events this week: 5 things to do between April 18-24 (2024)

Whether you’re looking for date-night ideas, free things to do or just something fun to do with the kids, you can’t go wrong with our list of events happening around Metro Vancouver between April 18-24. Headlining this week’s picks is the annual showcase of local short films, the Crazy8s Gala.

For more ideas, click HERE for our coverage of Vancouver’s Arts scene.

Article content

Article content

Here are 5 things to do in Metro Vancouver this week:

Crazy 8s Gala

When: April 20

Where: The Centre in Vancouver, 777 Homer St., Vancouver

Tickets: $40 at eventbrite.ca

What Are You Supposed to Do With Your Hands?, about a woman with late-diagnosed autistic woman and her sharp-beaked, sharp-witted guardian angel, is among the finalists in this year’s Crazy 8s annual 8-day filmmaking challenge. The shorts will screen at this year’s gala, hosted by Vancouver actor Cardi Wong. Other films include Astronaut, about a young boy and his absent father, and Toe Pick, about a 12-year-old figure skater. An afterparty at Science World follows the gala.

Verses Festival of Words

When: April 18-27

Where: Various venues and streamed online at poetv

Tickets: Starting at $15 at eventbrite.ca.

Vancouver Poetry House presents the 14th annual festival of spoken word, Canada’s largest. Guests include Vancouver spoken word mavericks CR Avery and Duncan Shields along with Toronto’s Lillian Allen. The latter is the seventh poet laureate of Toronto and a JUNO winner for her albums Revolutionary Tea Party (1986) and Conditions Critical (1988). The theme of this year’s festival is Learning and Remembering and the program includes performances, workshops, talks, and the annual Canadian Individual Poetry Slam. Events will be in-person and streamed online.

Article content

Article content

Dorrance Dance: SOUNDspace

When: April 19 & 20 at 8 p.m.

Where: Vancouver Playhouse, 600 Hamilton St., Vancouver

Tickets: From $35 at dancehouse.ca

In solos and full-company ensembles, the eight tap dancers of New York’s Dorrance Dance work in bare and socked feet, wooden platforms, and with the slaps, snaps, and slides of hands on the body. In a review of the work’s original 2013 run, the New York Times said that choreographer Michelle Dorrance “makes full use of tone, timbre, volume, tempo and, of course, rhythm, constructing patterns that lock together thrillingly.”

You used to call me Marie…

When: April 18-28

Where: York Theatre, 639 Commercial Dr., Vancouver

Tickets: From $29 at thecultch.com and 604-251-1363

Métis fiddle and dancing fill this production of Tai Amy Grauman’s intertwining stories of Alberta Métis Callihoo women set against backdrops of fur trade, governance, and organizing in the 1930s and into the present day.

The Falling Company: Family Room

When: April 19 & 20 at 8 p.m.

Where: Scotiabank Dance Centre, 677 Davie St., Vancouver

Tickets: $28/$22 at thedancecentre.ca

Article content

Marissa Wong’s Family Room explores immigrant life and cultural identity through dance and theatre. The set design transforms the stage into a living room, with each piece of furniture symbolizing familial connection and a foundation for interactions told through movement and text. Three dancers perform the piece.

Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add VancouverSun.com and TheProvince.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.

You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber: For just $14 a month, you can get unlimited access to The Vancouver Sun, The Province, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Vancouver Sun | The Province.

Article content