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 24 to April 30, 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.

TACOS | East Van Brewing hooks up with Tacofino for a beer dinner on Thursday night. $55 will get you a five-course meal (prepared by Tacofino Executive Chef Stefan Hartmann and Tacofino Hastings Head Chef Daniel Echeverria) expertly paired with beers from East Van Brewing. The early seating is already sold out, but if you hustle the late seating is still a possibility. Find out more.

ART | It’s Family Day at the Contemporary Art Gallery this Saturday. The fun-filled afternoon includes exhibition tours and art-making activities inspired by themes found in the current show (right now, that’s Deanna Bowen | A Harlem Nocturne). From our friends at The CAG: “Inspired by the work of Deanna Bowen, create a mixed media collage of found images, maps and texts of Vancouver/unceded Coast Salish Territories. Trace movements and memories of yourself and family through neighbourhoods, parks and terrain, mapping your connections to the land and city.” Roll up your sleeves and get a little messy making some art! Find out more.

GLASS | Get yourself down to the Terminal City Glass Co-op in East Van night for their annual Hot Glass Cold Beer fundraiser this Saturday.  The major draws of the evening are craft beer tastings and glassblowing demonstrations (pours from eight local breweries and one meadery will be on offer), but you can also expect music, acrobatics, food trucks and generally happy people. Tickets sell out for this event every year, so don’t delay. Find out more.

HOUSING | Frustrated by the cost of housing in Vancouver? Interested in exploring an alternative to the current model? You might want to check out the National Cohousing Open House event in North Vancouver this Saturday. Representatives from the community-minded organisation Hive & House will be on-site. Drop in between 10am and noon to take a tour of the Quayside Village Cohousing site, learn about the logistics of cohousing, talk to people who live at Quayside and connect with other people interested in exploring creative housing situations. Find out more.

BEER | East Van has a pretty healthy number of breweries these days. You may not have logged quality time at each one of them yet, but if you’re a beer enthusiast you’ve probably tried. Good news: this weekend brings a fine set of circumstances to help knock a few more off of your list. Hop Circuit is a self-guided open house of 17 breweries located in the Grandview-Woodlands and Strathcona neighbourhoods. Walk, skate or peddle your way around to taste products, meet the brewers, tour facilities and connect with other beer wonks. Extra cool bit: Big Day Barbeque is kicking off their 2019 BBQ series season in Powell Brewery’s backyard, and they want everyone to head down to pull up a chair, drink some beer and feast on Big Day brisket, pulled pork shoulder, and house made sausages (this crew just returned from an inspirational tour of Texas, so expect delicious things). Find out more.

FAMILY STYLE | There are still a few seats available at the Festa della Polenta happening at Gastown’s Di Beppe on Sunday night. The origins of the event that inspired Di Beppe “…date back to the 16th Century when members of the nobility offered polenta to hungry townspeople to help counter a famine that was ravaging the region of Tuscany. The gesture grew into a time-honoured annual communal feast that continues throughout many towns in Italy to this day.” And now, it has found its way to Gastown! Expect long communal tables filled with polenta and tasty accompaniments like osso buco and fennel sausage with peppers, rapini with Calabrian vinaigrette, polenta almond cake with blood orange and mascarpone to finish. There will also be Pinot Grigio and Valpolicella wines, as well as an Aperol Spritz (or two). Communal feasts are always such a good vibe! Stoked for this. Find out more.

MAKE | How many times have you found yourself wishing someone had brought a piñata to the party? So many, right? It’s time to get sorted. Put some time aside on Monday night to attend a piñata-making class so that you can learn to make a super amazing custom piñata to take home (all supplies included). We’ve taken this class before and give it two thumbs up. Instructor Meaghan Kennedy is rad, funny, helpful and phenomenally creative. Roll your sleeves up, grab a glue gun and make something! Plus: Pie! Find out more.

OPERA FEST | The 3rd Annual Vancouver Opera Festival kicks off on this weekend (until May 5th) with a bunch of free public performances, art installations, backstage tours, music and more. This year’s theme is “Fairytales & Fables”, and the bill includes stories and lore from around the world performed by Vancouver Opera members and guests. In addition to traditional performances of some big classics – “Faust” and “La Cenerentola” – the full schedule includes a brand new Opera written and performed by UBC students, masterclasses, talks, and even special “Relaxed Performances” (done in a subdued environment with no restrictions on coming and leaving the theatre). The fest checks all the boxes, whether you want to get dressed up in your spiffiest garb for a night out or have a family day out taking in the sights and sounds, as you please. Various venues and times. Find out more.

GREASY SPOON | If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, the Greasy Spoon Supper Series is a fundraising initiative that invites some of BC’s best chefs to “trade in their tweezers for tongs” to create a four course upscale ‘diner’ dinner. The meal is often paired with cocktails made by award-winning bartenders, as well as craft beer and wine and proceeds go to support A Better Life Foundation. For this special (50th) edition of the dinner, Save On Meats owner Mark Brand jumps into the kitchen (with the help of chef friends Todd Perrin (Mallard Cottage, St John’s); Joshna Maharaj; Vanecea Waterworth (Save On Meats) and Kris Barnholden). Details of this special menu have not yet been released, but you can expect old school diner fare with tasty twists. Snag a ticket before they sell out! Find out more.

REFRESH IN SQUAMISH | Roads are dry and the green is returning, what a perfect weekend to take a drive to Squamish. Grab a beer at Backcountry Brewing, scoop one of those crazy good cinnamon buns from Little Tree Bakery and then make your way to the West Coast Railway Heritage Park for the Refresh Market. This year, Refresh has gathered together a hefty 100 vendors. Take a whirl around the station to check out locally made clothing, ceramics, food, jewelry and more. Find out more.