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2018 PNE Summer Night Concerts

Once again, each night at 8:30pm the Pacific National Exhibition will come alive with the sounds of music, and this morning is your chance to get tickets to the summer’s best entertainment value, the 2018 PNE Summer Night Concerts series.

Pop, rock, country, disco, soul and R&B all come to the PNE Amphitheatre stage throughout the 15 Summer Night Concerts.  You can take it way back with the likes of Kool & the Gang, Wilson Phillips or Air Supply.  Feel like a kid again with I Love The 90s or Lost 80s ensemble nights. Then rock out with Goo Goo Dolls and Marianas Trench.

The 2018 Summer Night Concerts are included free with admission but be aware that seating is first come-first seated so you’ll want to make sure you arrive early.  Beer Gardens around the PNE also show the concerts on big screens so you can still enjoy the shows even if the Amphitheatre is already at capacity.  If you don’t want to wait, limited reserved seating is available from $25 + admission.  Reserved seats go on sale today, May 25, 2018 at 10am.
In addition you can gather your friends and family to reserve a private party suites  that cater to groups of 12 or 14 including the private suite, gate passes, concert tickets, food & beverage service, plus parking passes.

The 2018 Summer Night Concerts are:

August 18 – Boyz II Men
August 19 – Air Supply
August 21 – Dean Brody
August 22 – Goo Goo Dolls
August 23 – I Love the 90’s ft: Salt-N-Pepa with Spinderella, All-4-One, Color Me Bad, and Young MC
August 24 – Wilson Phillips
August 25 – Marianas Trench
August 26 – Lost 80’s Live ft: A Flock Of Seagulls, Men Without Hats, Wang Chung, Farrington & Mann (from When in Rome UK), Animotion, and Nu Shooz
August 28 – 112 ft; Slim
August 29 – Kool & the Gang
August 30 – Jan Arden
August 31 – Burton Cummings and Band
September 1 – Chicago
September 2 – Village People
September 3 – Cyndi Lauper

Get your tickets online at PNE now.

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Vancouver Foodster Best Taco Challenge is at hand

Taco Tuesdays take on new meaning this month as the Vancouver Foodster Best Taco Challenge gets under way, today May 3rd until May 27th.

Chefs near and far around the region have been challenged to create a taco that best exemplifies their restaurant. Vancouver Foodster has given the chefs free reign on their creations to make whatever their imagination dreams up; complicated or simple, traditional or uniquely non-traditional, vegetarian or meat-filled.

The public is invited to try out any or all of the Taco Challenge dishes then vote for their favourite creation at vancouverfoodster.com/taco-challenge

In addition to the public vote, a panel of media judges, of which I’m proud and excited to be one, will be tasting the Best Taco Challenge entries to choose the Judges Choice Winner.

Follow me @jminter on Twitter and Instagram to see the Taco Challenge creations landing on my plate and those of the other Media Judges too

James Chung : Founder & Editor of hellovancity.com
Twitter: HelloVancity
Instagram: hellovancity

Teresa Ly :  Foodie
Instagram: teelythefoodie

Get out and get your tacos and be sure to vote for your favourites!
The participating restaurants and dish details on the Vancouver Foodster Best Taco Challenge are;

La Cantina Tacos, 722 Nelson Street, Vancouver

Las Tortas, 3353 Cambie Street, Vancouver

Maizal, 2815 Main Street, Vancouver

Patron Tacos & Cantina, 265 Robson Street, Vancouver 

Hugo’s Churros, 7899 Templeton Station Road, Richmond 

Hugo’s Mexican Kitchen, 19151 Fraser Highway, Surrey 

Hopcott Meats, 18385 Old Dewdney Trunk Road, Pitt Meadows

Hugo’s Mexican Food, 7101 Vedder Rd, Chilliwack

Ready, set, Tacos! See you out there

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22nd Annual Where to Dine Awards Announced

Earlier this week, Where Vancouver Magazine presented their 22nd annual Where to Dine Awards at D/6 Bar and Lounge in the Douglas Hotel.

Attendees mixed and mingled with the finalist over delicious bites from the Parq Vancouver restaurants; D6, Honey Salt, BC Kitchen, 1886, Mrkt East and The Victor. Then as man-about-town Fred Lee hosted the ceremony, Where magazine presented the 2018 restaurants selected where to dine in Vancouver and Whistler.  Where readers were asked to select 22 of the 29 awards with the remaining selected by the magazines critics and editors.

The Where To Dine Awards went to;

READERS’ CHOICE – VANCOUVER

Vikram Vij received the first award of the afternoon

Indian: Vij’s Restaurant
Chinese: Bao Bei Chinese Brasserie
Japanese: Miku Restaurant
Asian: Chi Modern Vietnamese Kitchen
Latin: Cuchillo
Italian: Savio Volpe
Patio: Cactus Club Cafe
Pub Fare: The Irish Heather
Beer Experience: Parallel 49 Brewing
Seafood: Blue Water Cafe
Food Cart: Japadog
West Coast: Coast
French: Le Crocodile
Steak: Gotham Steakhouse & Bar
European: Bauhaus
Brunch: Twisted Fork Bistro
Fine Dining: Hawksworth Restaurant
Dessert: Thierry
Hotel Dining: Notch8 Restaurant & Bar at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver

READERS’ CHOICE – WHISTLER

Casual Dining: Caramba! Restaurante
Après-Ski: Dusty’s Bar & BBQ
Fine Dining: Araxi Restaurant + Oyster Bar

CRITICS’ CHOICE

Fanny Bay Oyster Bar received the Sustainable Seafood Award, presented with BC Seafood Alliance, Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre went to  for best exemplifying the practices of sourcing, serving and promoting sustainable species outlined under the Ocean Wise Program.

Five Sails Restaurant received the Silver Service Award, presented by members of Les Clefs d’Or BC, for consistently delivering the ultimate guest experience: an exceptional combination of food, service and hospitality.

Frank Pabst of Blue Water Cage received the Leadership Award for his impact on Vancouver’s dining scene.

Mary Mackay of Terra Breads received The Les Dames d’Escoffier Trailblazer Award recognizing her long-time commitment to excellence.

Where Vancouver food editor Tim Pawsey presented The Salmon House on the Hill with the Editor’s Choice award.  Botanist as Vancouver’s Best New Restaurant,  and Hunter Gather as Whistler’s Best New Restaurant.

To check out more details on all the winners of the Where To Dine 2018 list, pick up a copy of the May edition of Where Vancouver Magazine.

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Get Your Tickets For Tasting Plate Kitsilano, May 9th

Vancouver Foodster brings you another chance to explore one of Vancouver’s flavourful neighbourhoods with Tasting Plates Kitsilano coming up on May 9, 2018.

The West Side neighbourhood is home to a vast array of restaurant styles, tastes and menus.  As with all Tasting Plates events, chefs from the area restaurants and eateries will share a tasting plate or cup that they think exemplifies their kitchen with the hungry tasting platers. Gather your friends and fellow foodies to roam along West Broadway and learn about the establishments from the proprietors and chefs.  Tasting Plates begins at the to be announced check-in location where patrons can register and collect their Tasting Plates maps to guide you on your journey around the ‘hood.

Tasting Plates Kitsilano is expected to include stops at;

Sencha Tea Lounge, 3468 W Broadway

Olympia Pizza, 3205 W Broadway

Be Fresh Market, 2951 W Broadway

Bon Macaron, 2823 W Broadway

Look for more Tasting Plates spots closer to May 9th. Then get your walking shoes and stretchy pants, and get ready to explore Kitsilano.

Early Bird Tickets for Tasting Plates Kitsilano are on sale at Eventbrite before May 4th.

 

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Run away & enjoy the Circa

Circa Opus
Photo: Justin Nicholas, Atmosphere Photography

The circus is coming to town, Australia’s Circa, a bold contemporary circus company,  is visiting the Chan Shun Concert Hall, April 28th.

The Brisbane-based company, formed in 2004, has performed all around the world, and bring’s its show, Opus, to Vancouver.  Circa brings 14 acrobats to the Chan stage, and occasionally suspended above the stage, to perform gravity-defying feats and skills, alongside four musicians playing a live accompaniment. 

In 2018 The Circus as a form of performance is celebrating its 250th anniversary. Circa’s Opus is the latest evolution of the art form, bringing the history of The Circus, with the century plus tradition of France’s esteemed Debussy String Quartet stirring music of Dmitri Shostakovich

“Circa’s Opus is a breathtaking and extremely moving work,” says Joyce Hinton, Co-Managing Director of the Chan Centre. “It is also an entirely new—and wonderfully unusual—way to experience a live performance of the Shostakovich quartets, which are beautifully played by the Debussy Quartet.”

Circa forgoes conventional elements such as clowns, juggling, and elaborate sets. Instead, performers use the strength of their own bodies to redefine classic “Big Top” showmanship, executing exquisitely choreographed acts and heart-stopping physical feats with grace and precision.

Circa’s Opus brings thrills to the Chan Centre Saturday April 28, 2018, at 8pm. A post-show talk-back (free for ticket holders) with members of Circa and the Debussy String Quartet takes place immediately after the performance.
Tickets are on sale now or in person at the Chan Centre

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5th Annual Capture Photography Festival captures April

This week, the 5th Annual Capture Photography Festival opens another month-long celebration of photography and lens-based art forms.  Until April 30th, a hundred-plus free and ticketed exhibits cover the city like the spring blossoms, bringing colour, and sometimes black & white, images to public spaces and galleries.

Capture Photography Festival is devoted to exhibiting challenging and thought-provoking photography from local and international artists.  Since 2013, the not-for-profit Festival nurtures emerging artists and engages the public with tours, films, talks, events and exhibitions at dozens of galleries and community spaces throughout Greater Vancouver as part of the Festival’s Selected and Open Exhibition Programs.

Festival Opening

Some of the public installations have been popping up at Transit stations already, but the official kick-off, takes place this Thursday, April 5th with the festival launch and Featured Exhibition, The Blue Hour, opening at Contemporary Art Gallery, 555 Nelson Street.  In addition to the Metro Vancouver based installations, Capture Photography Festival also reaches throughout BC with three television features on Knowledge Network; Jeff Wall: In Order to Make a Picture, and The Salt of the Earth on Tuesday April 3rd, and Annie Leibowitz: Life Through a Lens on April 5th.

I Was a Teenage Skateboarder in the 90s

Capture Photography Festival runs throughout the month of April 2018, for the full calendar of events visit capturephotofest.com

 

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5 Egg-celent Easter Events for 2018

The Easter Long Weekend is upon us, spring should be here and after a long winter people are anxious to get outside for some Easter fun.

Here’s a few family friendly fun events to get you and yours out hunting Easter Eggs and visiting the Easter Bunny.

VanDusen Great A-Maze-Ing Easter Egg Hunt
From Friday to Sunday, kids can take part in an outdoor Easter Egg hunt at the beautiful VanDusen Botanical Gardens.

Stanley Park Train Easter Fair
From Thursday to Monday, take a ride with the Easter Bunny on the iconic miniature train and look for his buck-toothed friends as you ride through the Stanley Park woods.

 

Vancouver Aquarium Easter Scavenger Hunt
Throughout the weekend, take a self-guided tour through the Aquarium looking for the inhabitants and their eggs & Easter treats.

Big Easter Run 2018
Saturday, hop around Jericho Beach Park on the Big Easter Run,  join in a 5k, 10k (adults) or 1k (kids) supporting Canuck Place.

 

 

Brunch Buffet
After you’ve burned off all those calories and energy running around the park or hunting Eggs, you’ll need something to eat. Check out some of the great Easter Brunch Buffets around the City at; Notch 8, Boulevard, Oceans 999, Yew seafood + bar and plenty more.