From our calendar to yours comes this carefully considered agenda of cool things we are doing, wishing we could do, or conspiring to do in Vancouver from March 21 to March 27, 2018. Please note that you can now get the Scout List – with a few extra pieces of intel included – sent to your inbox every Thursday. Sign up for your subscription in the sidebar.

PHOTOS THREE WAYS | Next month is Capture Photography Festival but starting this Thursday night you can get an early, triple dose of photographic art if you scurry over to the BAF Gallery on East Broadway. Their latest exhibition features the medium in all its glory, including a group of artists dedicated to using and preserving the art of film. Expect to see work by Karen Zalamea, who is pushing the boundaries of the photograph into the three-dimensional; and Erin Siddall, whose latest collection of photographs serve as historical documentation of uranium glass. It’s an exciting time for photography! Find out more.

THROWBACK | Slip in to your best black everything, dig up a skinny tie and get serious with some eyeliner… Synth-pop superheroes Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark are in town to play a show at The Commodore Ballroom on Friday night. Not surprisingly, this gig is sold out, but a little dough and some time on Craigslist could sort you out. Find out more.

FIGHT CLUB | You’ve probably already seen it, but Fight Club is one of those films that your brain needs to revisit from time to time. And it’s time. Skip over to the Rio Theatre this Friday for a refresher on the film that, according to Rolling Stone, “…pulls you in, challenges your prejudices, rocks your world and leaves you laughing in the face of an abyss.” When is that not a good plan? Mischief. Mayhem. Soap. Get into it! Find out more.

CATCH SOME RAYS | There’s rain in the forecast for the end of the week, but Mount Pleasant’s Kafka’s Coffee & Tea will be providing plenty of colour with its latest installation of local art. Beginning on Friday, Crissy Arseneau‘s new series of painted paper assemblages, “Suspended in a Sunbeam”, is adding new vibrancy to the cafe’s walls. Arseneau’s artwork will be on display until the end of April, so even if you can’t motivate yourself to get out for the opening then take note the next time you need a fix of brightness. What better inspiration to brave the weather than a combination of fun art, warm beverages and good people? Find out more.

NIGHT QUEST | Shadows, noises, animal calls, and the sound of snapping branches – walking through Pacific Spirit Regional Park at night can be an intimidating prospect! It’s best to do it in a group. Follow a guide, add more than a few cheerful lanterns and all of a sudden you have a pretty magical Saturday night! Such an opportunity presents itself this weekend when The Pacific Spirit Regional Park Society hosts Night Quest. It’s a gentle 2km walk along a lantern-lit trail; an outdoor evening of storytelling, campfire music, and a bit of wildlife education. Wear your gumboots, pack a flashlight and take along a travel mug. This is a really great event that’s appropriate for anyone interested in the mysteries of the forest at night (geared toward kids but highly recommended for all). Find out more.

CHINATOWN TEA + TALK | City staff team up with a professional tea master in order to serve up hot tea and snacks at a street cart in Chinatown this weekend. The objective is to connect over tea to share information and ideas about upcoming initiatives happening in Chinatown including the proposed updates to development policies in the neighbourhood and the creation of a long-term plan to protect and grow Chinatown’s living heritage and culture. Expect two tea cart pop-up events, one on Saturday, March 24th (10:30am – 12:30pm) and the other on Tuesday, March 27 (3:30pm – 6pm). Get in there and get involved.

ZINES & GIFS GALORE | Dynamo Arts Association is hosting their annual Print Ready zine festival this weekend. Since it started in 2014, the showcase of self-published works has grown loads, proving the art of print is still going strong! However, this year Print Ready is making its first leap to the digital screen to include a GIF projection room (in addition to 40 local and international publications on display for flipping through). Diehard DIY-zinesters fear not — you can still show your appreciation for the ink-and-pulp devotees by buying a copy of your favourite publication for your personal library collection. Bonus: a couple of hours of perusing and chatting with the creators might just inspire your next rainy day project! Find out more.

SOUL FOOD CELEBRATION | The Fraserhood is going to be especially soulful this weekend because The Lion’s Den Cafe is celebrating manager Ken Brooks’ 65th birthday with their Soul Food Saturday event! For this special occasion the crew is cooking up a tasty Louisiana-inspired menu with all of the fixings, including Southern fried chicken, gumbo, jambalaya, catfish, cornbread and more. You’ll definitely want to show up early for this, since the small restaurant will likely fill up quickly with friends, foodies and hungover Friday partiers alike. Tip: if chowing on comfort food from the comfort of your own home after a late Friday night sounds especially appealing, you can still get your soul food fix a la takeout. Find out more.

DINE | There’s a trifecta of deliciousness happening in Gastown on Sunday! Vancouver Island’s Sea Cider Farm & Ciderhouse and underground dinner/entertainment duo Rabbit’s Foot Supper Club are crossing bodies of water and surfacing from the underground to congregate at the Birds & the Beets for a special five course, cider-paired omnivorous dinner. The menu reads like poetry, and the second course of ‘Wild mushrooms, smoked buttermilk, charcoal cracker, fir oil’ paired with the limited release hopped ‘Wolf in the Woods’ botanically-infused cider sounds especially intriguing. Check out the entire spread on the event page here and get excited. Find out more.

LIGHTS OUT | You may notice the Vancouver skyline diminish in it’s usual sparkling radiance between 8:30 and 9:30pm on Saturday night as thousands upon thousands of conservation conscious city dwellers flip the switch on electricity during Earth Hour. Take part: get your candles lined-up and turn out the lights. Ideally, you’d use the time to brainstorm ways that could contribute to a more sustainable future throughout the year, but it’s your Saturday night, so whatever you fancy getting up to when the lights are out is up to you! Find out more.
Sat. March 24 | 8:30 and 9:30pm | Everywhere