Already, we are wrapping up the first month of the year but the great winter picks of the week keep on going
Lights: The illuminations keep glowing for another few weeks at one of Metro Vancouver’s largest festive light displays, Lights at Lafarge at Coquitlam’s Town Centre Park until February 16th
Bridge: As February comes, romance is in the air, and you can be too when you and your Valentine are exploring Love Lights at Capilano Suspension Bridge Park setting the park and hearts a glow until February 22
Classical: Early Music Vancouver welcomes the eclectic world and classical music ensemble Constantinople’s Bach & Khayyam, led by founder and Iranian setar virtuoso Kiya Tabassian with renowned soprano Hana Blažiková, on January 30th at Christ Church Cathedral.
photo: Will Bonness
Improv: Until Saturday, play for laughs at The Improv Centre’s THE HEAT: An International Improv Comedy Showcase, now in its third year at Granville Island
Strum: The world’s premier touring guitar festival, International Guitar Night, returns to Massey Theatre on February 1 with a lineup of four extraordinary guitarists presenting an evening of world class guitar mastery, classical and flamenco guitarist Itamar Erez, jazz guitarist and vocalist Jocelyn Gould, harp guitar innovator and fingerstyle virtuoso Jamie Dupuis, and flamenco guitarist Caroline Planté.
Stand-up: Thursday, The Rio Theatre presents two shows, 6pm & 9pm by former 1st Grade Teacher turned stand-up comedian Geoffrey Asmus
Classroom: Closing on February 1, Firehall Arts Centre presents Blackout Art Society’s English, written by Sanaz Toosi, is a quietly powerful and deeply human play about four Iranian adults preparing for an English proficiency exam in a storefront classroom near Tehran.
Pucks: The Vancouver Canucks take to the ice at Rogers Arena for two game this week; versus Anaheim Ducks on Thursday and Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday
Reading: Before it comes to a close, February 2, find inspiration for your 2026 reading list with The Vancouver Writers Fest Digital Festival
Performing: Continuing until February 8, the 21st PuSh Festival brings more creative performing arts by local and Canadian artists along with Indigenous creators and international collaborators.
Dine: Dine Out Vancouver Festival, Canada’s Largest Food Festival, runs until February 8, with hundreds of prix-fixe menus and culinary events spread around the city, creating perfect pairings of Dine Out X PuSh Festival performances.
Cocoa: The 16th annual Hot Chocolate Festival is underway now, warming hearts and cups around the region until February 14, with over 100 locations in 234 creative variations of the cozy cups of comforting cocoa.
Barefoot: Until February 14, Metro Theatre brings Neil Simon’s beloved romantic comedy, Barefoot in the Park, a witty, inside peak at a pair of newlyweds’ first week of marriage and the love, compromise, and the humour found in learning how to live together, set in 1960’s New York City
photo: Moonrider Productions
Ancestry: Based on his album of the same name JUNO-nominated singer-songwriter Adrian Glynn McMorran’s, You’re Just a Place That I Know, wraps up February 1 at Olympic Village Stage, traces the history of his Ukrainian grandparents, who left their homeland during World War II to begin life anew in Montreal.
Cottage: Tonight’s opening night for The Arts Club’s The Golden Anniversaries at Granville Island Stage. Glen and Sandy Golden head to the cottage where they have celebrated the last 49 wedding anniversaries but is their 50th, Golden?
Mom: The Arts Club Theatre Company brilliant one-mom play, Burning Mom by Mieko Ouchi is on tour around the region, continuing its run at Surrey Art Centre until January 24, then moving to Burnaby’s Shadbolt Centre for the Arts.
Puppet: Saturday, January 31st, the Anvil Theatre presents Ventastic, Reimagining the Art of Ventriloquism with Michael Harrison. As seen on America’s Got Talent, Canada’s top ventriloquist, Harrison, is one of the top comedy ventriloquists in the world and Disney’s most beloved performers.
Shadbolt: Continuing until January 30, Advance Theatre Festival co-presented by Ruby Slippers Theatre, Shadbolt Centre for the Arts and Playwrights Guild of Canada, the innovative and inspiring festival, presents five new staged readings over five days all written and directed by female identifying and gender non-conforming artists who also identify as Black, Indigenous or People of Colour.
Haida: Closing February 1st, Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art presents the Vancouver premiere of the retrospective exhibition Kihl ‘Yahda Christian White: Master Haida Artist
Photographer: On display until February 1st, take a glimpse through the lens of an iconic 20th century photographer as The Polygon Gallery presents Lee Miller: A Photographer at Work (1932–1945)
Colours: Richmond Art Gallery presents major new group exhibition, The Chromophiliacs, until April 5 – featuring major works by Diyan Achjadi, Moozhan Ahmadzadegan, Charlene Vickers, and Jan Wade, alongside new commissions by Maru Aponte, Sandeep Johal, Yaimel López Zaldívar, Laura Meza Orozco, Osvaldo Ramirez Castillo, and Malina Sintnicolaa
Gibson: The Marianne and Edward Gibson Art Museum – The Gibson – Simon Fraser University’s new culture hub – features an inaugural group exhibition, Edge Effects, showcasing 15 acclaimed Canadian artists until February 15, 2026
Enemy: The Vancouver Art Gallery presents Enemy Alien the first major solo exhibition and retrospective of works by documentary photographer Tamio Wakayama, on display until February 22, 2026
Sustainability: MONOVA’s Feature Exhibit ‘Are We There Yet? The Sustainable Transportation Journey’ exploring the ever-evolving landscape of urban transportation in North Vancouver until March 1, 2026
Tibet: On display until March 29, 2026 at the Museum of Anthropology at UBC (MOA), discover the world premiere exhibition of Entangled Territories: Tibet Through Images, curated by Dr. Fuyubi Nakamura, MOA Curator, Asia, in collaboration with Tibetan-Canadian community members and artists, the bilingual exhibition reimagines Tibet and its future through the perspectives of the Tibetan-Canadian community
Mother: Until March 29, 2026, The Museum of Anthropology at UBC (MOA) presents the world premiere of Jaad Kuujus: Everyone Says I Look Like My Mother an exhibition featuring a varied collection of naaxiin (Chilkat) weavings and their digital translations.
Border: On view until May 30, 2026, The Reach Gallery Museum in Abbotsford presents Parallax(e): Perspectives on the Canada–U.S. Border / Perspectives sur la frontière Canada–É.-U., an ambitious exhibition that looks at the history of the 49th parallel that separates Canada and the US, and its lasting impacts on Indigenous communities