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 April 3 to April 9, 2019. 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.

PHOTOGRAPHY | The Capture Photography Festival officially hits gallery walls across the city this week. Focused on showcasing all manner of ‘lens-based art’ created by emerging and established artists from here and around the world, the much anticipated fest kicks off with a launch party at Inform (Wednesday, April 3,  7-8:30pm). Together with the obvious visual component, we can also expect numerous tours, talks, and workshops to enjoy. Head over to the Capture website (here) to design your own experience. Capture runs April 3-30. Find out more.

WRITE | It’s tax time, so pretty much the worst, most stressful, and potentially punitive time of the year to open your mail. So maybe be thoughtful and write a few letters to friends. Just think of how great would it be to open the mailbox to find a beautiful, hand-written postcard or letter rather than one of those impersonal CRA damnations! This week, The Regional Assembly of Text hosts one of their famous Letter Writing Clubs. If anyone can fight the buzzkill of brown ‘send us money’ envelopes, it’s this crew. Paper, old school typewriters, fun stamps and all manner of writing utensils provided. Find out more.

WILD | Gain a fresh perspective on how you experience food by attending an informative three-course wild meat tasting and cooking demonstration on Friday night. Hunter, forager and all around cool human being Jody Peck of Wild Northern Way teams up with her pals at Fjallraven to talk hunting, sustainability, traceability and food. The evening will feature ethically harvested wild game meat and a cocktail inspired by the flavours of the Pacific Northwest. This event is about the connection between land, plants and animals, and table. It’s Jody’s hope that once we come to fully appreciate the connection, we’ll become more invested in engagement in land stewardship. Read a recent interview with Jody here and scoop up a ticket to the event here. All funds raised from this event will be donated directly to two local organizations: The Forest & The Femme (who empower women through nature) and Nature Trust BC (committed to setting aside natural wild places for animals, plants and people). Find out more.

CULTURE | The Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre in Burnaby is holding their annual spring festival, O Hanami, this Friday and Saturday. Hustle out to Burnaby Friday night for a 19+ evening that includes fancy courtesan dressing demonstrations, a poetry performance, music, a meditation workshop and more. There will also be plenty of food and drink at the Nikkei Izakaya — think sushi, oden, yakisoba, yakitori, tebasaki chicken, edamame, beer, sake, and wine). Festivities resume Saturday with family friendly vibe and martial arts demos, kimono dressing, a tea ceremony, Japanese crafts, bonsai and ikebana displays, more food and, the always popular relaxation Shiatsu room. Get into it, Spring is worth celebrating! Find out more.

LEARN | There are still a few spots open for the Friday evening Kombucha Making workshop out at UBC Farm. This 2 hour workshop will bring you up to speed on fundamentals like ingredients, technique and safety tips to consider when brewing Kombucha in your own kitchen. Loaded with anti-oxidants and high in probiotics, kombucha is good for you AND easy to make once you understand the basics. Bonus: Kombucha tasting session of different flavour combinations. Advance registration suggested — do that here.

FEAST OF FOOLS | Tasty food, cold beer and a bit of foolish revelry sound like a good fit for your weekend? It’s time to make your way over to Strange Fellows brewery for the annual Feast Of Fools celebration. Starting at 4pm on Saturday, $18 will get you some combination of BBQ brisket (or Baked Bean sandwich) along with crunchy coleslaw, Strange mac ‘n cheese, or Tarte a la Biere and a cold beer. As always: irreverent behaviour, good-natured pranks, and silly costumes are encouraged. Find out more.

SPIRITS | BC Distilled goes down this Saturday. Expect the coolest products and players from BC’s micro-distillery scene congregating in one place at one time to provide spirit wonks with a snapshot of what’s happening in the industry. There will be 40 of BC’s finest small-batch distilleries sampling and showcasing their artisanal spirits and liqueurs (think gins, vodkas, and whiskies galore). You should also anticipate cocktail-making demonstrations, tastings, serious conversations and general booze-nerdery. Find out more.

GIGS | Weezer and Pixies co-headline at Rogers Arena on Sunday (details). Bob Mould is at The Rickshaw (also Sunday). Both FKJ shows are sold out (Vogue Thursday and Commodore Friday), but if you’re desperate, Craigslist might work out. Hop Along takes the stage at The Biltmore (details). Live music is good for you so get out there and get dancing.

NATURE | Interested in taking your love of nature beyond the occasional-walk-in-the-forest level? WildResearch is an organization that focuses on training and educating the public in conservation science  (think the monitoring of songbird migration at Iona Island Bird Observatory, and the Nightjar Survey, which collects data on nocturnal birds). WildResearch representative Azim Shariff will be at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum this Sunday talking about various opportunities to get involved in ‘citizen science’ in BC. Head out to the stunning UBC facility for a look at the collection, attend the talk and wander the campus to take in the cherry blossoms. Find out more.

FAMILY STYLE | Squeeze every last drop out of your weekend – grab some pals and make for Fraser Street’s Ubuntu Canteen for their Sunday night family-style feast. The menu changes weekly (check Ubuntu’s IG feed the day before for details). No tickets required for this open format, long table dinner aimed at strengthening the fabric of the community. Kids encouraged. Dinner kicks off at 5pm. All the comforting vibes of a home cooked hangout, but none of the prep or clean-up – pretty great way to round out your weekend, wouldn’t you say? Find out more.

HEADS-UP | Mayne Island meets Main Street on April 10th for a special six-course beer-paired dinner. The fourth instalment of The Acorn restaurant’s “Vintage + Veg” series sees executive chef Brian Luptak preparing a one-night only menu paired with beers from the Mayne Island Brewing Company. The event will be a veritable vegetable-focused melding of the likeminded. Expect a delicious menu featuring locally foraged ingredients to eat and sip on. Hurry up and get your tickets for the feast here.