The main objective of this website is to scout out and promote the things that make Vancouver such a sweet place to be. We do this with an emphasis on the city’s independent spirit to foster a sense of connectedness within and between our communities, and to introduce our readers to the people who grow and cook our food, play the raddest tunes in our better venues, create our most interesting art, and design everything from what we wear to the spaces we inhabit.

The Scout List is our carefully considered first rate list of super awesome things that we’re either doing, wishing that we could do, or conspiring to do this week. From our calendar to yours…<!–more–>

The first annual Velopalooza bicycle festival starts with a kick-off party on Friday at the WISE Hall. Get the full scoop.
June 4 | 8pm | WISE Hall | $10

Chinatown Night Market really gets going this month. Hopefully there are less toy machine guns on sale than the one in Richmond.

The New Generation Of Farmers. For Burnaby Environment Week, Metrotown scores with a talk by Heather Pritchard of Farm Folk/City Folk. Pritchard will discuss our food and its future. Good stuff.
June 4 | 4 pm | Metrotown Library | FREE

Fab Fair goes down at Heritage Hall this weekend. Local goodies and trinkets for your purchasing pleasure.
June 5-6 | 11 am–5 pm

Celebrate Mount Pleasant and then hit the Cedar Cottage Community Carnival. Both events take place on Saturday. Both are also free and choc-a-block with live music, face painting and food. If I had to choose just one – I’d say Cedar Cottage. They have the one-two punch of a dunk tank and bake sale. Nice.
June 5 | FREE

This sounds so weird that you know it has to pay in awesome dividends. Take a guided bus tour of the Vancouver Landfill to learn about it’s environmental protection systems, how landfill gas generates electricity and heat, how Metro Vancouver biosolids can be used to create top soil for landscaping at the Landfill, and more. The fun never ends.
June 5 | 9am – 3:30 pm | City of Vancouver Landfill (5400 72 Street, Delta) | FREE

There’s a vintage bike swap at the Cambrian Hall on Sunday that promises some real scores (vintage skateboards too).

Also on Sunday, the Vancouver Heritage Foundation brings you Cool Conversions, a self-guided tour of renovated and re-purposed industrial and heritage buildings. More information here.

Join us this weekend on the Island for the 8th Annual Tofino Food & Wine Festival. Just a lengthy bus ride away and so worth it. Always an amazing time.
June 4 – 6 | Botanical Gardens and area restaurants | Details

Italian Day takes over Commercial Drive.
June 6 | 1 to 8 pm | (Venables to the Grandview Cut) | FREE

Slugfest. It’s free and it’s slimy. A little odd, too.
June 6 | 1 – 4 pm | Richmond Nature Park | FREE

Cherie Blair, wife of former British PM Tony Blair, dishes at the Orpheum on Tuesday night.
June 8 | 7pm | Orpheum

Catch Charles Demers (Author of Vancouver Special) at the main branch of the Vancouver Public Library.
Jun 9 | 7:30 pm | VPL | FREE

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Michelle Sproule grew up in Kitsilano and attended Bond University in Australia and the University of Victoria before receiving her graduate degree in Library Sciences from The University of Toronto. She lives by the beach in Vancouver and enjoys wandering aimlessly through the city’s shops and streets with her best friend – a beat up, sticky, grimy, and uncooperative camera.

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