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 November 13 to November 19, 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.

ALL ABOARD | The Vancouver Skateboard Coalition and Granville Island are joining forces to bring us All Aboard, a two-day family-friendly celebration of skateboard community and culture. Expect lessons for kids and adults; art and skate workshops; all manner of competitions; a heated skater’s lounge; kids bands, food trucks and much more. Pros, newbies, skate curious and old-schoolers — this is an event for everyone. Groups involved include all-women’s skateboard organizations, adult beginner skateboarders, children groups and the LGBTQ skateboarding community. This is a pilot project for a covered mini-ramp that will be available for skateboarding through the end of 2019. For a full list of events, have a look here. Find out more.

SWITCH | If you’re interested in education, mental health, community building, and the power of counter-culture and grassroots organizations to raise awareness and affect change, the Skateboard With Intent To Change panel discussion is for you. Expect to hear about how skateboarding contributes to the social fabric of this city, as well as how skate culture is in a unique position to educate, tackle mental illness, mobilize social awareness, and provide an accepting, encouraging and supportive environment for disenfranchised youth. Speakers include John Rattray (Why So Sad?); Joel Pippus (Push To Heal); Kristen Ebeling (Skate Like a Girl); Joe Buffalo (Colonialism Skateboards) and Jonah Bayley (Vancouver Queer Skate). Hosted by Everett Tetz and Rose Archie. Find out more.

ESCAPE | Feeling an urge to skip town for a change of scenery, but not seeing an opening in your work schedule? Hit Mónica Reyes Gallery for “Road Trip: A Painting Exhibition”. This group show features the works of three artists (Gavin Lynch, Corri-Lynn Tetz and M.E. Sparks) united by themes of movement, adventure, chance and “connecting oneself to a multitude of different surroundings and environments.” You may not be able to escape the city this weekend, but at the opening reception for Road Trip, you can visit quiet forests and cool clearings, enjoy the colors of a sunset, and (if only through memory provoked by scenes on canvass) appreciate the warmth of the sun on bare skin. End the evening with a cold beer at Strathcona Brewery (two blocks away) and you might just go to sleep feeling like you’ve had a mini getaway. Find out more.

LISTEN | Transitioning into winter can be difficult. The trick is not to fight it. Put on your cozy sweater, fill up on comfort food (we got you covered), pour yourself a whisky and embrace it. A dramatic soundtrack can help. Hit the Chan Centre this week and let the sounds of Bach’s awesome Brandenburgs  – played loud and live – deliver you into the drama of the season. This special performance, which features conductor Ton Koopman, is presented by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra as part of the Classical Traditions series. From the Chan Centre: “Ton Koopman, one of the most sought after keyboardists, conductors and Bach interpreters in the world, comes to Vancouver to deliver a veritable masterclass in the baroque with Bach’s beloved Brandenburg Concertos and the famous “Air on the G string” from Orchestral Suite No. 3.” Extra bonus: the concert ends with a touch of Handel (Music for the Royal Fireworks), so you can bet that you’ll leave feeling invigorated! Find out more.

FILM | The Irishman is screening at Vancity Theatre this week. Directed by Martin Scorsese and featuring a cast that includes Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Anna Paquin, Harvey Keitel, Jesse Plemons, Joe Pesci, Stephen Graham, and Bobby Cannavale, you know this is going to be good.  From The New York Film Festival: “The roster of talent behind and in front of the camera is astonishing, and at the core of The Irishman are four great artists collectively hitting a new peak: Joe Pesci as Pennsylvania mob boss Russell Bufalino, Al Pacino as Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa, and Robert De Niro as their right-hand man, Frank Sheared, each working in the closest harmony imaginable with the film’s incomparable creator, Martin Scorsese.” Basically, this is a solid bet if you’re looking for a movie to sink into this weekend, so grab a nice salty bag of popcorn and let the story carry you away. Find out more.

EASTSIDE CULTURE CRAWL | Take to the streets, alleyways, corners, studios and galleries of East Van this weekend because it’s time for the East Side Culture Crawl. This is easily one of the greatest things about November in Vancouver. With 500 local artists participating this year, there is a lot to check out (painters, jewellers, sculptors, textile artists, furniture makers, weavers, potters, printmakers, photographers, etc.) and you really need several days to take it all in. Float from one studio to the next, talk to artists about their processes and enjoy the diversity of creativity that the neighbourhood has to offer. Look for the sandwich boards! Find out more

PEROGIES | There’s a Perogy Lunch at the Strathcona Ukrainian Hall this weekend. Dig into generous helpings of homemade perogies, sliced sausage, cabbage rolls and bowls of borscht. Don’t be put off by the line-up at the door. It moves fast and you might make friends (perogy eaters are generally a jolly bunch). Super bonus: this event takes place smack in the middle of Eastside Culture Crawl territory (Pender at Hawks) and fits in nicely between studio visits. Find out more.

GET CRAFTY | Good news: we are now well into Craft Fair season. That means easy access to small-scale local producers of cool things. Every weekend a different gathering of artisans, craftspeople and artists will set up tables and booths around the city to offer their wares as alternatives to mass produced crap. This weekend we suggest you make your way to Burnaby to check out the massively popular Craft & Bake Fair at the Nikkei Centre (expect everything from everything from jewellery and jam to woodwork and textiles – as well as mochi, milk bread and taiyaki). Don’t miss the Origami Christmas Ornament Making drop-in workshop on Saturday from 12pm to 3pm. Find out more.

GATHER | Did your weekend evaporate a little too quickly? Swap out Monday night’s dinner doldrums for a delicious and entertaining alternative at Ubuntu Canteen and extend that relaxed weekend vibe. This week’s edition of the laid-back Family Movie Night brings together two totally unrelated but equally delightful components: Totoro and sourdough pizza. You didn’t have anything as unique as that planned for Monday night, did you? Grab your kids, your cousins, your neighbours, and your pals and cruise in to the bright yellow beacon of community spirit for a sweet bit of Japanese animation and a bellyful of pizza. Movie and good vibes free; pizza and drinks extra. Find out more.

HOPSCOTCH | Vancouver’s annual scotch festival begins this week and carries on through to November 22nd. If you hurry – and I mean click here RIGHT NOW – you may still score a ticket to the Hopscotch Annual Grand Tasting Hall on Nov. 22. In addition to a litany of tasting events, there are a number of talks and workshops designed to catapult you from consumer to connoisseur. Smaller events sell out quickly, and with close to two hundred products to sip and sample, that should surprise no one. If booze is your thing (and we suspect it might be in November), welcome home! Find out more.