Vancouver Adventures: Our Picks for March

Safely enjoy spectacular immersive art, celebrate all things Celtic and more this March in and around the city

1. Live Music – Throughout March

Take your household bubble out for some cocktails and bites while supporting local artists. Cardero’s features live music at the marinaside pub from 7 p.m. and The Sandbar on Granville Island’s waterfront welcomes back live music nightly from 6:30 p.m.  
Details online

2. Vancouver International Dance Festival – Thursday, March 4 to June 19

Vancouver International Dance Festival celebrates its 21st season with 18 livestream contemporary dance performances. Broadcast from the KW Production Studio, the 2021 VIDF presents cinematic perspectives of contemporary dance including Vancouver companies: Ne. Sans Opera and Dance, Company 605, Vidya Kotamraju, CAMP and Lamondance, along with Toronto’s Yvonne Ng / tiger princess dance projects.
By donation; Details online

3. Bright Downtown – Saturday, March 6 to Friday, March 12

Light up your life with an illuminating display, staged by local projection mapping company Go2 Productions, which will run in 15-minute loops to brighten the eastern facade of the historic Fairmont Hotel Vancouver. The light show will feature 3D animations that play with the hotel’s architectural elements, using the building’s structural outline as the foundation for bold and bright optical illusions.
North plaza of the Vancouver Art Gallery, for proper viewing of the east facade of the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver at 900 West Georgia Street, Vancouver; Free; 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. daily; Details online

4. Virtual Humanity – Friday, March 6 to Sunday, March 28

‘Check out’ a human for a 20-minute loan! Zee Zee Theatre presents the world premiere of Virtual Humanity, streaming online this month. The deeply personal, one-on-one experience adapts the company’s annual Human Library project into the digital space, where participants can ‘check out’ a human for a candid conversation about their life experiences, culture and beliefs—including such titles as Perspective of a Mixed Man; Indigi-Queer Identities, Two Spirit and Beyond; I Am Not a Scammer, and more. Meet an array of new and returning ‘virtual humans’—with a particular emphasis on representation from BIPOC individuals—available for 20-minute loans over the course of four weekends.
Saturdays and Sundays through March; Day passes $5 online, with a subsequent request to ‘Pay What It’s Worth’ after the show

5. Mooby’s Pop-up – Monday, March 8 to Sunday, March 21

Kevin Smith fans can eat ‘hater tots’ and ‘freedom fries’ at the fictional fast food restaurant, Mooby’s, inspired by his film franchise and now the subject of a pop-up coming to Vancouver. Choose your meal and book your time in advance then step into Mooby’s for a safe and seamless pick up-only experience, snap a pic for the ‘gram, and gain access to exclusive merch.
Details online

6. CelticFest Vancouver – Thursday, March 11 to Saturday, March 20

Celebrate all things Celtic this month with live music and exceptional online events, from Irish soda bread demos to traditional sports, cocktail nights and a family festival.
Details online

7. B.C. Blueberries for Dinner – Friday, March 12

Blueberry fans can get inspired with a B.C. Blueberry three-course meal kit from Local Food Supply Co. that gives home chefs access to the ‘B.C. Blueberries for Dinner’ virtual cook-along hosted by Fraser Valley celebrity chef Dez. 
$85; 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.; Details online

8. 14th Annual Coastal Dance Festival – Friday, March 12 to Thursday, March 18

Dancers of Damelahamid celebrate Indigenous arts as part of the newly envisioned, virtual presentation of the 14th annual Coastal Dance Festival. The free, online festival will feature the world premiere of a new short dance work in honour of the late Elder Margaret Harris by Dancers of Damelahamid filmed at the Anvil Centre, as well as performances and cultural sharing by many of the festival’s long-standing artists, including the Dakhká Khwáan Dancers, Git Hayetsk Dancers, Git Hoan Dancers, Spakwus Slolem, ‘Yisya?’winux?w Dancers, and David Robert Boxley.
Free; Details online

9. Out of Order – Thursday, March 18 to Sunday, March 21

Experience a live stream performance from Montreal’s circus collective The Seven Fingers, which takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the social balance between raw animal instinct and the elevation of minds, bodies and souls in an educated and conformed society. Expect spectacular acrobatics and signature theatricality, showcased via The Cultch.
7.30 p.m. (12.30 p.m. on Sunday, March 21st); From $29; Details online

10. Imagine Van Gogh Exhibit – From Friday, March 19

Europe’s original immersive exhibition Imagine Van Gogh, is coming to Vancouver to display more than 200 of the Dutch artist’s paintings in a spectacular showcase created by artistic directors Annabelle Mauger and Julien Baron. Using the concept of ‘Total Image’, the viewer is literally transported on a journey to the heart of the artist’s work.
Vancouver Convention Centre, 1077 Canada Place, Vancouver; From $33.99; Registration and details online