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The Playground - Week 14

Welcome to The Playground, a place for Vancouver parents and their awesome kids. Every Wednesday I post a roundup of upcoming family-friendly events and activities.

Welcome to The Playground, a place for Vancouver parents and their awesome kids. Every Wednesday I post a roundup of upcoming family-friendly events and activities. I’m always on the lookout for fun stuff to do, so if there’s something happening that you think I should know about, contact me at theplayground@vancouverisawesome.com. Because Vancouver is awesome for kids too!

In the Playground for the week of August 11-17: The Purple Pirate, Chinatown Festival, Gastown Show n' Shine, Music in the Garden, Latin Summerfest and more. Here are some fun things to do with the kids this week:

Thursday, August 12

The Purple Pirate is performing a free show at Riley Park Community Centre:

The Purple Pirate show is an action packed adventure of magic and comedy. This brazen buccaneer is guaranteed to bring smiles and laughter to everyone at this swashbuckling show. Anchors away!

The show (BBQ hot dogs and hamburgers for sale too) starts at 1pm. For more info click HERE.

Friday, August 13

Join Kits Neighbourhood House for a fundraising community picnic at Jericho Beach. Face painting, musical sing-a-long, games and a prize for the best beach wear. $2/per family, 10:30am-1pm. More details HERE.

Saturday, August 14

The Chinatown Festival is on this weekend and there’s lots going on, including multicultural stage performances, historic walking tours and of course, lots of yummy food! Check out the 125th Anniversary Photo Exhibition, Chinese folk art demos and the Kid’s Corner. And Sunday afternoon features the Youth Talent Showdown: Dance Edition. The festival takes place Saturday and Sunday from 12-6pm.

It’s also Sagwa Saturday on August 14 and 21 at Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden:

Explore Chinese history and traditions with SAGWA the Chinese Cat! 2 hours of learning, games, activities and craft-making. Perfect for your 5-10 yr olds!

It's $10 to drop-in on Sagwa Saturday and the program runs from 9-11am.

While I’m on the subject of the Chinese Garden, did you know that there are great activities for children there every day? You can watch the fish get summoned for their daily feeding at 11:45 and there’s a family program on weekdays at 2pm. Or you can ask for scavenger hunt cards anytime to make your visit extra special for the kids. Check out their summer schedule HERE for more information.

Cambie Village is hosting a Sizzlin’ Summer Street Festival, complete with fashion shows, sidewalk sales, live music and a children’s art centre. On Cambie between 5th and 25th, 1-3pm.

Sunday, August 15

If your kids love things that go, you won’t want to miss Vancouver’s largest free motorcycle show. The 6th Annual Gastown Motorcycle Show & Shine is Sunday:

Come check out the show n' shine with hundreds of motorcycles on display, including choppers, cruisers, vintage bikes, sport bikes (European, Japanese, American), fat boys, softtails, rat bikes, touring bikes, sidecars, drag bikes, trikes, scooters and more.

For more info, check out the Show & Shine’s Facebook page.

MusicFest Vancouver and BMO present Music in the Garden, a family day for lovers of music and nature at VanDusen Botanical Garden:

Onstage performers include the Marc Atkinson Trio with its engaging acoustic jazz sounds, didgeridoo virtuoso and master storyteller William Barton from Australia and perennial children’s favourite Rick Scott. Also on the agenda: craft-making, an interactive drumming circle with Groove Masters Percussion and the Tom Lee Musical Instrument Petting Zoo where kids get a rare opportunity to literally get their hands on a range of fascinating musical instruments and hear their sounds.

Music in the Garden is included with regular admission to the gardens and is happening Sunday from 10am-3pm.

Sunday is also Latin Summerfest at Trout Lake Park. All kinds of music from Flamenco to Reggae, salsa dancing, great food and kids activities, and it's all free! 11am-7pm.

And one more great Sunday event: Vancouver’s 37th Chariot Festival of India. The festival kicks off with the Chariot Parade along Beach Avenue at 11:30am. After that check out music, dance, live theatre, mendi tattoos, puppet theatre, face painting, clowns, vegetarian cooking demos, free feasting and more, all at Second Beach in Stanley Park from 1pm-dusk. For more details, click HERE.

Monday, August 16

Chroma: The Quest for Colour. Take your kids to a free live theatre performance at Sunset Community Centre, courtesy of the Studio 58 Theatre Program.

Burnaby Summer Theatre 2010 is proud to announce, "CHROMA: The Quest For Colour."

The world of Chroma is under attack! “The Shade” has begun his mission to consume all of the colours in Chroma and keep them in his Well of Darkness. It’s up to our heroes Dasos and Neela to begin their brave quest to rescue Chroma and return colour to the world!

With a collaboration of live music, bright colours, and the most silly of super hero’s and super villains, this is a show that is sure to entertain the whole family-while encouraging children to unleash the power of their imagination.

Chroma is at the Sunset Community Centre on Monday at 1pm. There are also two shows on August 19th behind the Granville Island Kid’s Market. You can learn more about the shows HERE.

That's all for this week. See you next Wednesday!