From our calendar to yours comes this carefully considered, slightly booze-heavy agenda of cool things we are doing, wishing we could do, or conspiring to do in Vancouver from Thursday, September 25th, to Wednesday, October 1st, 2025. Please 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 here.

BEER | Dang, Storm Brewing is turning 31 years old this week! How nuts – as in, crazy-cool – is that? It certainly hasn’t been an easy 31 years for East Van’s OG craft brewery; any local beer-lover knows that Storm has experienced more than their share of challenges and city-related BS over the past 3+ decades. Nor have they lost their unique, youthful and rebellious brewing spirit in the meantime! Celebrate along with them by joining in one (or all) of the planned celebrations spanning four days. It kicks off today (Thursday, September 25th) with a special barrel aged beer release, and continues through to Sunday’s famous Ice Cream ‘Sundae’ Social – with lots of good eats (hotdogs “for the people” and donuts from Vegas Donuts) and music (DJ Zing, Canzino) in-between, plus much more. “All Ages. No Cover. Cheap Thrills.” DETAILS

WINE | Spend an afternoon exploring Portugal through wine, food, and folk traditions at the Vinicola Portugal Wine Festival. Sample over 70 wines from across the country, enjoy charcuterie, salgados and pastéis de nata, and soak in live performances by Rancho Folclorico Cruz de Cristo. Take-home bottles are easy with the Sutton Wine Merchants pop-up on-site. Tickets are $65. DETAILS

BOOZE | Wine not your thing? Need something a little stronger? The Global Rum Festival goes down at the Croatian Cultural Centre on Saturday. Kick off with a crash course at Rum University (2:30pm), where you’ll get schooled on the basics of rum’s history, production, and classification system. Then, from 4–6pm, the Trade & Industry Tasting offers professionals a chance to meet producers and sample global rums in a relaxed setting. The evening closes with the Grand Tasting from 7–10pm, a curated exploration of rum’s global flavours and culture. DETAILS

MORE BOOZE | This week, bars and restaurants around the world are pouring a beloved three-ingredient cocktail for a good cause. Launched in 2013 by Campari and Imbibe Magazine, Negroni Week raises money for charity by celebrating one of the great classics. This year’s beneficiary is Slow Food, a global movement of communities and activists in 160+ countries, working for food and drink that’s good for people, producers and the planet. We like Slow Food. And we like Negronis. The full list of participating bars can be seen here. Since there are only a few days remaining, though, if we had to narrow it down we’d suggest hitting The Chickadee Room, where you’ll find five Negronis inspired by as many different countries (Canada, France, Mexico, Jamaica, and Italy). Collect them all this week and get a free Negroni. Or head over the bridge to The Woods for a Black Sesame Bianco. DETAILS

SHUBUN | In Japan, the time when daylight and nighttime hours reach equilibrium is called Shūbun. On Saturday, September 27th  Maest Food celebrates this moment with a five-course, plant-based Secret Dinner that will feature the season’s first pine mushrooms, along with the balance of warmth and coolness, and air and earth. Chef Tomoko Tahara works with ceramicist Jonathan O’Leary, who has crafted Nordic vintage-style tableware and a take-home bowl-and-spoon set for each guest. There are two opportunities (5pm & 7:30pm) to join, but there are only a few seats left. DETAILS

MAKE | Join a Invasive Plant Bookmark Workshop at Slice of Life where participants get to  make their very own up-cycled bookmark using invasive plant species gathered from around the Lower Mainland, like English Ivy, Reed Canary Grass, Creeping Buttercup, and Tansy. This two-hour-long session is led by the Invasive Art Initiative, which means that it’s not your average workshop. Besides learning basic paper-making methods, you’ll also be engaging in discussions about the plants you’re working with, including their connections to the land. And you’ll walk away with your very own one-of-a-kind paper bookmark, of course. $20 per person.  DETAILS

TRUTH | The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (also known as Orange Shirt Day) is a Canadian day to recognize the lasting impacts of the Indian residential school system. It’s hard. It’s a deep, painful history, and knowing how to respond can feel overwhelming. Not sure where to start? Try having conversations. The Vancouver Art Gallery is hosting hands-on activities as a space to begin that dialogue and reflect on the truth. Drop in to create animal sculptures from everyday objects, make orange buttons, and design postcards inspired by Brian Jungen and other Indigenous artists. At 2pm, join a guided tour for kids ages 5–12 and their families to explore the exhibitions together. Free with gallery admission. DETAILS

COOK! | The season’s tomato rush is on! Now’s the time to think ahead. Stock up at the market, haul home as many as you can carry, and find ways to put save them for the cold months. Slow-cooked, rich sauce in January starts here. Need a solid tomato sauce recipe? We can hook you up right here. As for where to score in high volume? Hit your local farmers market (see below) or connect with the good folks from Bowen Island’s Endswell Farm who are setting up another one-day tomato pop-up at East Vancouver’s ‘A Living Taste’ storefront. It’s a perfect chance to capture the summertime in jars. DETAILS

FOOD | You know how it goes: one day the stalls are full, the next it’s all gone. Harvest season’s here, so hit up the Farmers Market to grab what you can while it’s still around for the grabbing. Right now it’s all about hot peppers, apples by the bushel, hardy kale, big ol’ squash, and the last of the tomatoes. Plus all the usual good stuff like local cheese, fresh bread, jars of preserves, honey, wild salmon, cookies, and pies. Show up, fill up your bags, and support the folks who keep us fed. DETAILS