The main objective of this website is to scout out and promote the things that make Vancouver such a sweet place to be. We do this with an emphasis on the city’s independent spirit to foster a sense of connectedness within and between our communities, and to introduce our readers to the people who grow and cook our food, play the raddest tunes in our better venues, create our most interesting art, and design everything from what we wear to the spaces we inhabit.

The Scout List is our carefully considered first rate list of super awesome things that we’re either doing, wishing that we could do, or conspiring to do this week. From our calendar to yours…

The Scout List

There are a lot of crowd generating, traffic pattern changing events going on this weekend.  Canada Day celebrations, the Yaletown Grand Prix, Jazz Fest – oh,  and the release of the new Twilight flick, Eclipse.

But, if you’re looking for something a little less mainstream try, here are our picks:

Right off the bat, you could head to Vancity for a screening of a concert documentary featuring Leonard Cohen at the 1970 Isle Of Wight Festival. Thank you Vancity – perfect antidote for a potentially “fiery and frenzied” long weekend. Here is the synopsis:  “August 31, 1970, 35-year-old Leonard Cohen was awakened at 2 am from a nap in his trailer and brought onstage to perform with his band at the third annual Isle Of Wight music festival. The audience of 600,000 was in a fiery and frenzied mood, after turning the festival into a political arena, trampling the fences, setting fire to structures and equipment – and stoked by the most incendiary performance of Jimi Hendrix’s career, less than three weeks before his death. As Cohen followed Hendrix’s set, onlookers (and fellow festival headliners) Joan Baez, Kris Kristofferson, Judy Collins and others stood sidestage in awe as the Canadian folksinger-songwriter-poet-novelist quietly tamed the crowd. The set includes such gems as Famous Blue Raincoat, Bird on a Wire, Suzanne and So Long, Marianne.”
July 1 | 6:15 & 9pm | Vancity Theatre | $10

Then there is the not-so-mainstream trying-to-get-off-the-ground DTES Street Market in Pigeon Park. Give it a chance. See you there.
July 4| Pigeon Park | FREE (to look)

Or you could catch TransWorld’s new skateboarding flick “Hallelujah” at the Vogue on Saturday night. It’s only $2 to get in and proceeds go to the BC Children’s Hospital. It’s gonna be a rad film.
July 3|  Vogue Theatre | $2

And, while we’re on the subject of skateboarding: the big-ass Kensington Bowl is rumoured to open on Saturday. Check it out those fat trannies!
July | Knight and E 37 | FREE to look

Or make your way out to UBC farm for some fresh veggies. All farmers markets are awesome (scroll down for this week’s convenient list of where and when to grab local grub), but UBC deserves some special attention because they do so much good within the context of a large university bureaucracy. Extra points, extra love.
July 3 |  UBC Farm  | FREE

World Cup getting you inspired? There is a  footy game going down in Strathcona. Start time, rules and dress code are about as loose as the French coach’s brain – just show up to McLean Park in the mid afternoon and join in.
July 4 | afternoonish |McLean Park | FREE – but you might pay a price the next day

Didn’t I JUST mention that UBC Farm deserves some love? Well look at this –  there is a UBC Farm fundraising event with Barbara-Jo of Barbara -Jo’s Books To Cooks on Wednesday – find out all about it here.

Music this week? Nomeansno (hell yeah!) are at the Biltmore on July 1st; Fond Of Tigers and Deerhoof grace the Commodore on July 3rd; and The Melvins are playing the Rickshaw on July 5th. Read our Zulu Report (from the good folks at Zulu Records) here for a list of all the shows Scout readers should be checking out.

Blim has an artists opening with Patrick Cruz and Simon Redekop. Hit their website for details.
July 2 | 8pm | BLIM | FREE

And if you loved Blim on Friday, think about returning on Sunday for the all you can make collage buffet! Includes vinyl sticker paper, fabric scraps, specialty papers, inks, tapes, glues, puffy inks, stickers,and so much more! Pay one price, make all the collage you want! No Pre-requisite. Again – the best place to find out more about this Blim workshop is at Blim. Now go!

Or…just plain escape. Hop a longer ferry to Pender. The island’s Morning Bay Vineyard turns five years old this weekend and they mean to celebrate with raucous to do. Expect barrel and tank-tasting, new releases, barbecue, foods, music – the full-on hippie works.
July 3 | Noon to | 5 pm

You don’t need to take the car to get to Bowen. Just walk the heck on and before you know it you’ll be transported to a different world. This weekend is the “Write On Bowen festival: “Join writers, publishers, presenters, and readers for a series of workshops, panel presentations, and other events.” OK. Find out more here…

There’s also the Westham Island option. A few minutes on the highway to fresh produce right from the source. Fit in a walk at the Reifle Bird Sanctuary and then stop in at Steveston for wine and cheese at kickass Gudrun. Easy-peasy lemon squeezy.

Mainstream Deets

Canada Day Street Festival starts at 10am (Canada Place), parade starts 7pm at Georgia & Broughton, ends at Thurlow & Pender some time around 9. Fireworks to follow at Canada Place. Woot.

More than a few good gigs are going down as part of Jazz Fest. Hit David Lam Park on Saturday for Current Swell (6pm) and head back again Sunday for Hey Ocean! (at 6pm) and Five Alarm Funk (at 8pm).  Get full details on all of the great free gigs here.

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Michelle Sproule grew up in Kitsilano and attended Bond University in Australia and the University of Victoria before receiving her graduate degree in Library Sciences from The University of Toronto. She lives by the beach in Vancouver and enjoys wandering aimlessly through the city’s shops and streets with her best friend – a beat up, sticky, grimy, and uncooperative camera.

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