1000 Cool Things About Vancouver is a pretty self-explanatory Scout column that gives equal weight to the common attributes and obscure intangibles that make our city well worth living in. Getting to a thousand is a pretty ambitious goal, but we believe in our city and are already well on our way.

The annual Powell Street Festival has been celebrating Japanese-Canadian arts and culture for over 40 years. Held every summer in the Japantown/Railtown section of the Downtown Eastside that surrounds Oppenheimer Park, the festival sees myriad live performances, art shows, martial arts and sumo wrestling demos, craft markets, children’s activities and plenty of other things besides. Our favourite facet of the festival is the food: we’re talking a couple dozen stalls selling everything from katsu, spam musubi and yakisoba to summer corn, gyoza and wood-fired salmon. In 2018, the dates for the Powell Street Festival are August 4th and 5th, with hours set at 11:30am to 7:00pm for each day. See you there!

The following images were taken at the 2017 Powell Street Festival

Oppenheimer Park

Neighbourhood: Downtown East Side

400 Powell St.