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 June 5 to June 11, 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.

GIG | The Chromatics play The Vogue on Thursday night. The dreamy-sounding outfit from Portland, Oregon hits Vancouver on the final leg of their Double Exposure tour. Sexy, smoky, synthy! This is going to be a good show kids. It’s hard to believe there are still tickets available. Grab one and I’ll see you there. Find out more.

MUSIC WASTE | Refreshingly punk and perpetually defiant, Vancouver’s oldest independent, non-profit music and art festival goes down this weekend. This year’s line-up could keep anyone solidly busy from Thursday afternoon straight through to Sunday night with short breaks for food and sleep. Gigs and happenings are so numerous and so good that we recommend you skip over to the Waste website (here) for a look at the schedule and to customize your own must-see shortlist. Passes for the four-day festival are only $20 so grab one online or in person at Audiopile, Neptoon, Red Cat or Zulu. Find out more.

TIPPLES | Long week? A decadent cocktail in a hotel lounge might be just what you need. Agree in concept, but not stoked about decadent hotel lounge prices? Get this: “To pay homage to the millions of drinks that have been shaken and stirred under [it’s] famed green roof over the past 80 years”, the Hotel Vancouver is currently mixing a line-up of 8 cocktails — each one being the most popular drink from each decade that the hotel has been open (take a peek at the list here). Drinks on the “Tippling Through The Decades” menu are $16 each, but here’s the skip-out-of-work-early good news: they are only $8 during happy hour (3-6pm daily). Happy details here.

ITALIAN DAY | Hooray for car free street parties! There are few things more intoxicatingly ‘Vancouver’ than a little sunshine on your face as you walk up the middle of The Drive through a gentle haze of incense, weed, and curbside barbecue smoke while you take in community group tables, food booths and live music. This year, the theme is “Comunità” (community), so get out there and be part of it! Remember to leave the car at home, as driving hereabouts will be impossible. Find out more.

PLANTS | Hit VanDusen Gardens for the Cactus & Succulent Show/Sale this weekend and score yourself a selection of their rare and unusual cacti and succulents to spice things up on windowsills and counters at home and work. This gig is hosted by The Desert Plant Society of Vancouver in the Floral Hall. Admission is by donation. Find out more.

BEER | There’s a Women’s Brew Day going down at Callister this Sunday: “Whether you’re a homebrewer, a professional, or you’ve never seen a hop before, come learn some brewing basics and meet other beer-loving ladies. We’ll be brewing a Raspberry Lemon Gose Sour.” Best part: this 19+ event is free. Just RSVP to Diana at info [at] callisterbrewing.com because space is limited and we don’t want you to miss out. Find out more.

FLASHBACK | ’80s hard-rock/post-punk goth heroes The Cult are in town from the UK to play The Vogue on Sunday night (think “She Sells Sanctuary”, “Love Removal Machine” and “Fire Woman”). Tickets to this sold out concert are not going to be easy to come by (which means they also won’t be cheap), but can you really put a price on nostalgia? (try Craigslist)

MAKE | Paper artist Rachael Ashe is leading an Altered Book Workshop this weekend. This five hour hands-on class will school you on how to transform old books into one-of-a-kind pieces of art. Learn techniques and tricks, familiarize yourself with tools, be inspired! Once you get the basics down, you can continue creating at home. The possibilities are as endless as the discard bin at your local library. Find out more.

HANG OUT | Looking for a relaxed place to meet up with your pals this weekend? Juice Bar pops up in Gastown Wed – Sat (start with the magic chilies and a glass of Neon Eon and see where the night takes you).  Dock Lunch goes “Dock Sunset” with breads and spreads (and other things) 0n Thursday nights starting at 6pm (they also do a brilliant dinner on Friday night).  The Pie Shoppe is open late on Friday and Saturday nights – an ideal destination for a post-dinner pie and tea. Grab your best buddy and have some low-key hangout time and support some hard-working and super cool business owners while you’re doing it!

EAT LOCAL | With Main Street Station and Downtown Markets opening this week, Vancouver is now up to a full compliment of Farmers Markets around the city! Take full advantage of these pop-up sources of good to stock up on fresh local food. Fill your reusable shopping bag with tasty salad greens, fresh asparagus and herbs galore, not to mention cheeses, artisan breads, preserves, honey, wild salmon, cookies, and pies. Support the people who grow our food! Find out more.