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 August 7 to August 13, 2019. Note that you can also 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.

CE SOIR NOIR | If you’re looking for an alternative to Le Dîner en Blanc, consider hitting Creekside Park (near Science World) for Ce Soir Noir – a free public picnic for the counter-culture crowd. No fancy white linen required for this annual picnic-based art installation of darkness; just throw on an old black t-shirt, grab a few pals (and a blanket to sit them on) and show up. Pack along a non-perishable, healthy, child-oriented food item to donate to Backpack Buddies (a local charity that works to distribute healthy food to children in need in the Downtown Eastside). Find out more.

MURALS | The Vancouver Mural Festival is back! Cruise streets and alleys to take in local and international artists making their mark on walls around the city. The week is packed with events – many of which are free – including talks, performances, tours, and workshops. The big ticket event is on Saturday (Mount Pleasant gives 14 of her finest city blocks over to a proper car free street party). Meet a few artists, take in a bit of public art and stop for great food at Dock Lunch! Find out more.

SAND | KitsFest happens this weekend. This three day festival focuses on activities like basketball, tennis and volleyball, as well as sunset beach yoga and bathtub races. Be sure to take water, sunscreen and snacks, and expect parking to be in short supply. When you get tired, hungry and thirsty, refuel up Yew Street at Lucky Taco. Find out more.

FUSE | This is a good weekend to take small people to the Vancouver Art Gallery. Family Fuse Weekend has all sorts of fantastic fun afoot. Expect performers, dancers, musicians, and other creative artists leading workshops and tours focused on the theme of ‘The Intersections of Art and Life”. Wander through the exhibitions, participate in artist-led multi-media workshops and hang out in open studio spaces. Kids under 12 get in free with a paying adult and everyone has a thought provoking and aesthetically pleasing time. Get creative! Find out more.

STARS | Every year around this time, stargazers and naturalists flee the bright lights of the city to catch the Perseid meteor shower. The Perseid shower is visible from mid-July each year but the most pronounced activity goes down in the pre-dawn hours this coming weekend and next. This year we can expect to see 15 to 20 meteors per hour. Pretty much any open sky free of light noise will do the trick, but if you want to really get into it with telescopes, guided walks and information sessions from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, hustle out to Aldergrove for a Meteor Shower Watch & Walk. No fires, but camping is an option. Find out more.

AIRSHOW | Make the trek out to Abbotsford for the annual Air Show this weekend. Poke around the cockpits of old warbirds; check out CF-18s and F-22 Raptors; and be impressed by the skills of the Snowbirds. You don’t have to be an airplane wonk going in, but you just might be after you leave. The collective size, speed, and history of the planes in this show is immense and impressive. Find out more. And, hey… you’re out in Abbotsford already, why not nip into Field House Brewing for a nice cool beer?

CULTURE | The Vancouver Chinatown Festival happens this weekend. Hustle down to Keefer between Quebec and Main between 11am and 9pm for a little culture, music, a parade, food trucks and stalls. There’s also an outdoor screening of Kung Fu Panda and, as always: great deals on socks. This will be a fun, colourful, and crowded event. Pro tip: the nearby Dr. Sun Yat Sen Gardens can be a tranquil respite from the chaos. Find out more.

HURRY | I hate to bring it up, but summer won’t stick around forever. Now is the time. Eat dinner outside, drink beer on patios and picnic on the beach – do it all! Winter will be less gloomy if you can look back on a summer well spent. Have you logged any hours at Kits pool yet? If not, maybe this is the weekend you check that one off the season’s to-do list. Pool info here.

COMMUNITY | On August 12th, Vancouver’s association for Women of Recreation, Tourism and Hospitality is putting together a one-night-only long table dinner, matching five local female “Shefs” and Sommeliers with five female VCC culinary arts students to create five fabulous collaborative wine-paired courses. “Yes Shef!” is a one of a kind fund- and consciousness-raising event in support of the WORTH’s efforts to address issues of gender disparity in the hospitality industry, in particular in its leadership positions. Get an idea of what a more equitable future tastes like by grabbing tickets to the dinner here.

WATCH | Grab a blanket or a lawn chair and join a bunch of strangers to watch a movie outside. Harry Potter: The Prisoner of Azkaban plays in Stanley Park on Tuesday night. This is the second-to-last fresh air film at Ceperley Meadow this summer, don’t miss out and damn the Dementors! Find out more.