BC Adventures – Our To Do Picks for January 15-21

Credit: Flickr/Stoneboat Vineyards

Get your fill of icewine at Sun Peaks during the Okanagan Icewine Festival

What to do in BC this week

Schedule Some Sexy Time
 at Taboo – January 13-16
If your mojo is MIA, don’t despair: Just check out Taboo: The Naughty But Nice Sex Show, an “upscale adult playground” unfolding from January 13 to 16 at the Vancouver Convention Centre (West Building, 999 Canada Place). You’ll find everything you need to spice up your sex life in the form of lingerie, fetish gear, cheeky costumes and other adult-oriented unmentionables from dozens of vendors, along with a slate of risqué seminars running the gamut from bondage and lap dancing to spanking and body painting, as well as live stage shows featuring bikini and pole dancing contests. Buy tickets for $20 (cash only) at the door, or for $15 online.

Head to Sun Peaks’ Winter Festival of Wine – January 15-23
Skiing, spa’ing and wine-sipping are just some of the things you can do at the Winter Festival of Wine at Sun Peaks Resort near Kamloops. Once you get a gander at all the “edutaining” seminars and tasting parties slated from January 15 to 23, you might want to make a weekend of it with the Ski, Sip and Stay Package, starting from $450 per person for three nights’ accommodation, two days of skiing and three festival events of your choice. Call 1-877-212-7107 to book.

Show Your Good Taste at Taste BC 2011 – January 18
Most do-gooding dinners come with a hefty price tag. Not so Taste B.C. 2011, where $49.99 per person buys you the chance to help out B.C. Children’s Hospital — Oak Tree Clinic. Along with the satisfaction that comes from contributing to a good cause, partygoers can enjoy tastings from top local restaurants, wineries and breweries, all amid the elegant ambience of the Hyatt Regency Hotel (655 Burrard Street, Vancouver). Check it out on January 18 from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., but be forewarned: Almost a thousand people turned up for last year’s shindig, so buy tickets while they last from all Liberty Wine Merchant Stores. For more details, visit libertywinemerchants.com or call 604-633-1922.


Make a Grape Escape to the Okanagan Icewine Festival – January 19-23

January’s sleet and snow might create chaos for commuters, but our cold Canadian winters are good for something. And that something, as wine connoisseurs can attest, is ice wine — a cold-weather crop made from grapes frozen on the vine. If you’ve never tried this sweet (and expensive!) elixir, you’ll have your chance at the Okanagan Icewine Festival, running January 19 to 23 at Sun Peaks Resort (1280 Alpine Drive), the third-largest ski retreat in Canada. Located near Kamloops, the award-winning resort is gearing up to host a grape escape that offers guests entertainment aplenty — everything from winemakers’ dinners to progressive tastings to educational seminars, along with all your favourite alpine activities. For further information, go to thewinefestivals.com or call 1-800-807-3257.

Check out the Vancouver Motorcycle Show – January 20-23

It’s not just bad-boy mavericks who love motorcycles. If you don’t believe it, head over to the 2011 Vancouver Motorcycle Show, taking place from January 20 to 23 at Tradex Centre in Abbotsford. Sure, you’ll see plenty of shaggy-haired tattooed types, but you’ll also find a fan base that crosses gender, age and occupational lines, all there to preview the latest and greatest in motorcycle innovation for the year ahead. Industry reps will also be on hand to unveil what’s next in motorcycle technology, along with a showcase of the world’s leading motorcycle distributors and manufacturers — everyone from Ducati, Harley-Davidson and BMW to Victory, Polaris and Hyosung, to name but a few. Tickets are $13 per person, $8 for youth, and free for kids under six.

See Dead Man’s Cell Phone at UBC – January 20-29
Picture this: An incessantly ringing cell phone in a quiet cafe, and a stranger at the next table who has had enough. That’s the set-up for Dead Man’s Cell Phone, a Theatre at UBC production running from January 20 to 29 at Telus Studio Theatre (6265 Crescent Road, Vancouver), starting at 7:30 p.m. This “wildly imaginative” new work from American playwriting sensation Sarah Ruhl won raves from The New Yorker, which deemed it “full of astonishments, surprises and mysteries.” Tickets for this “funny, affecting and otherworldly exploration of modern life” are available for $22 per person, with discounts for seniors, students and children, at chancentre.com, at the box office or by phone at 604-822-2678.


Enjoy Floating at the Arts Club
 – January 20 – February 5
What would happen if Wales were to break free of Britain — not in a political sense but a geographic one? That’s the fantasy scenario explored in Floating, kicking off its Canadian premiere from January 20 to February 5 at the New Revue Stage (1601 Johnston Street, Granville Island). Set in 1982, this “strange and beautiful comedy” begins when the island of Anglesey miraculously tears free of England, taking its bewildered residents on an oceanic journey that reaches as far as the Arctic Circle. Will they ever get home again? And, more importantly, do they even want to? See for yourself by booking tickets at artsclub.com or by calling 604-687-1644.

Catch the 2011 BMO Canadian Figure Skating Championships – January 21-23

If your sporting heroes run more toward Kurt Browning than Sidney Crosby, you won’t want to miss the 2011 BMO Canadian Figure Skating Championships from January 21 to 23 at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre (1925 Blanshard Street, Victoria). There, you can catch a who’s who of 150 of the nation’s best skaters, all busting out their best Triple Axels to determine which creme-de-la-creme competitors will represent Canada at the upcoming ISU World Figure Skating Championships, ISU Four Continents Championships and ISU World Junior Championships. Tickets are available at ticketmaster.ca with further information available at skatecanada.ca.


See the Steam Ship Exhibit at the Maritime Musuem – until March 31
Whether you’re talking about classic cars, vintage wine or old-time ocean liners, there’s just something about antiques that never gets old. That would explain the appeal behind the latest exhibition at Vancouver Maritime Museum, called “The Golden Age of Steam Ship Travel.” On display until March 31, it focuses on early 20th century steamship ephemera and artifacts, and features more than 600 posters and over 4,000 archival items, including pamphlets, reports, deck plans, promotional brochures, clippings and photographs. For further details, go to or call 604-257-8300.

Try the Food – and Art – at the Legacy Cafe – anytime

Where can you feed your soul and your tummy at the same time? In Victoria, you can take care of both at Legacy Art Gallery and Cafe (630 Yates Street), which features all manner of casual eats plus a new exhibition called “Architecture and Power” that examines the design philosophy behind Canada’s parliament and legislative buildings, on display until February 6. And in the adjoining “Small Room,” visitors can also enjoy a chuckle over “Now Here’s the Deal,” a series of political cartoons from W.A.C. Bennett’s private collection, until January 23. Admission is free, with more information available by phone at 250-381-7670.

Eat Like You’re in Brooklyn – anytime
No need to ask, “Where’s the beef?” if you happen to stop for a bite at Big Lou’s Butcher Shop, a new Brooklyn-style butchery-slash-cafe in the heart of Vancouver’s Railtown. The 12-seat eatery features a sandwich counter serving up house-made meats while the retail shop custom-cuts “all kinds of fresh sausages, local meat, poultry and game,” along with specialty marinades, dressings and pickled vegetables. Check it out from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, with more details at 604-566-9229.

Take a Trip to Big White – this winter
Go big or go home. That motto was practically made for Big White, voted one of the five top family ski resorts in the world. Check it out for (relatively) cheap on a ski bus tour, featuring round-trip deluxe transportation, two nights at the Inn at Big White, daily lift tickets, free giveaways and guided mountain tours. And, if you go from January 14 to 16, you’d better hit Value Village on the way so you’ll be all set for an ‘80s-themed dance party, complete with big hair, neon and prizes for best costume. Trips depart from the Lower Mainland, and are priced at $367 per person, based on quadruple occupancy. For details, click on destinationsnow.com or call 1-604-532-1088.

Originally published in TV Week. For daily updates, subscribe to the free TV Week e-newsletter, or purchase a subscription to the weekly magazine.