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Fun events to check out in Vancouver this weekend: Feb. 7 to Feb. 9

Find out what you can do this weekend in and around the city.
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The Invictus Games kick off this weekend in Vancouver on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, offering several opportunities for fans to get out and cheer top athletes or check out popular performers.

Vancouverites can check out plenty of indoor events this weekend if they want to avoid the deep freeze.

The Invictus Games will kick off this weekend in Vancouver, offering several opportunities for fans to get out and cheer top athletes or check out popular performers. Prince Harry will also be attending the opening ceremony and likely attend some of the games.

Temperatures have dipped several degrees below seasonal averages, prompting locals to rush inside for their extracurriculars. There's still plenty of time to enjoy sweet sips at the annual Hot Chocolate Festival if you'd like something sweet (and to use to keep your hands warm). The festival runs through Valentine's Day (so you can also warm up with someone special).

You can also enjoy barrels of belly laughs at Theatresports or lace up your skates for free ice skating in Robson Square.

Here are a few fun things to do in Vancouver from Feb. 7 to Feb. 9, 2025.

Hold On Let Go 

The Hold On and Let Go festival will showcase performance work from artists in Vancouver and across Canada, including work from Keely O’Brien, Kyle Loven, Dancers of Damelahamid, Mammalian Diving Reflex, and Zuppa. The event will also feature two in-development presentations of brand-new works by Anjela Magpantay and FakeKnot.

The presentation of Mammalian Diving Reflex's Sex, Drugs and Criminality will take place on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 8:00 p.m. It is the North American premiere of the work, marking the company's return to Vancouver after over a decade. The show includes a group of local teens between the ages of 16-18, as well as three special guests and local cultural luminaries. 

The 3 special guests are Hiro Kanagawa, Dan Mangan, and Vanessa Kwan.

When: Feb. 7 and Feb. 8, 

Where: Russian Hall - 600 Campbell Ave

Cost: $30 for the Mammalian Diving Reflex's Sex, Drugs and Criminality show. Get tickets

Richard Linklater’s Before Trilogy

Richard Linklater’s Before Trilogy will play at The Cinematheque over the next several days and, fittingly, on Valentine's Day. 

Each of the trilogy's features was filmed nine years apart, starting with the cult hit, Before Sunrise, which sees a young man travelling across Europe fall in love with a stranger on a train. They spend an unforgettable night together at a train stop. The next film, Before Sunset, sees them meet again, years after he has flown home.

Finally, Before Midnight revisits the couple many years into their marriage, after time revealed difficulties in their once care-free love. 

When: Feb. 6-15

Where: The Cinematheque - 1131 Howe St

Cost: $10. Get tickets.

Life is Still

Vancouver-based painter Carol King presents her solo exhibit called Life is Still to the THIS Gallery over the next week.

The exhibition invites viewers to "pause and look at the overlooked" in a collection of still-life paintings. The artist transforms ordinary objects into visual poetry, capturing the quiet beauty and directing attention to "the delicate dance of light and shadow and the subtle colours that bring things to life."

“Objects are vessels of our memories, and they remind us that even the simplest things can hold a world of emotion if only we take the time to be still,” says Kong.

There will be an opening reception with the artist on Saturday, Feb. 8 from noon to 4 p.m. 

When: Feb. 7-15 ( open on Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 5 p.m.)

Where: THIS Gallery - ​Lower Ground Level 30E on Keefer St

OUMA Bridal

Vancouver-based OUMA Bridal will host a Galentine's Day workshop where guests can make one-of-a-kind earrings, hair clips, and more with couture lace scraps and embroideries. 

Guests can enjoy sips and sweets while meeting and mingling with other women. There are also fun photo setups to keep memories with besties. They get to take their one-of-a-kind homemade creations home.

The proceeds from the ticket sales will be donated to California Wildfire Relief.

When: Sunday, Feb. 9, from noon to 2 p.m., or 3-5 p.m. 

Where: #unit 201 25 East 6th Ave

Cost: $49.26. Get tickets.

Invictus Games 2025

The Invictus Games kicks off with the Opening Ceremony at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 8, including a line-up of star-studded performances by Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, pop icon Katy Perry, Canadian pop diva Nelly Furtado, and American singer-songwriter Noah Kahan. 

There are also two Wheelchair Basketball Pools on Saturday, Feb. 8 and Sunday, Feb. 9 at the Vancouver Convention Centre. 

"This adaptive sport showcases the competitor’s sharp tactical skills, precision, and endurance as they work together to score and defend. It’s a thrilling display of athleticism and camaraderie, embodying the spirit of competition and recovery at the Invictus Games," write the organizers. 

The Vancouver Invictus Village at VCC will run daily starting Feb. 9 with booths, concessions, giveaways and stage programming between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.; hours will be extended until 10 p.m. on select dates for live finals broadcasts.

Prince Harry founded and inaugurated the games in 2014.

When: Feb. 8-16 (various times). 

Where: BC Place - 777 Pacific Blvd; Vancouver Convention Centre - 1055 Canada Pl

Cost: Opening ceremony: $45-+$279. Get tickets.

Theatresports

Two teams of highly skilled improv comedians contribute out their best quips and antics for audience laughs and the support of audience judges.

Organizers say attendees can expect a "high-energy, fast-paced and good-natured competition."

The show is 90 minutes long with an intermission. 

When: Friday, Feb. 7, and Saturday, Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m.

Where: The Improv Centre - 1502 Duranleau St 

Cost: $35 for regular and $30 for students. Get tickets.

Ongoing

Artist Market 

Locals can explore a range of artists and their creations at the LunarFest Artist Market available on numerous dates throughout February. Browse artists of different backgrounds and a wide range of mediums to find a perfect New Year gift. 

When: Feb. 1-2, 8-9, 15-17, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

Where: Ocean Artworks - 1531 Johnston St., Granville Island 

Cost: Free to browse.

Deborah Leigh: Welcome to My World

Deborah was born in Prince George in the early 1950s and didn't start drawing until she was in her 50s. Now that she's in her 70s, "she's more creative than ever."

"My hope is that viewers could be drawn into my images with a sense of curiosity, wonderment, and questioning of what the images are trying to portray. I like to include pathways, roads, and byways that represent the journeys we all undertake and where these paths may be leading us to in our lives," says the artist.

When: Feb. 1 - 22

Where: Outsiders and Others, #100 - 938 Howe St

Cost: Free.

Greater Vancouver Hot Chocolate Festival 

The Greater Vancouver Hot Chocolate Festival is an interactive experience, where participants can embark on a self-guided tour to sample dozens of hot chocolate creations at cafes and eateries throughout the region.

The 2025 edition boasts 81 participating vendors (dubbed "Chocstars") serving up a combined 180 flavours at 124 locations across Metro Vancouver - and beyond. This year you'll find vendors from White Rock to Whistler - though the bulk are in Vancouver proper, with numerous spread out between Burnaby, the Tri-Cities, Langley, New West, Richmond, and North and West Vancouver. 

When: SaturdayJan. 18 through Valentine's Day, Feb. 14

Where: Participating cafes, restaurants, and sweet shops across the Lower Mainland. 

Cost: Prices vary.

Multiple Realities: Experimental Art in the Eastern Bloc, 1960s–1980s 

With themes that resonate in our socio-political climate today, this timely exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery features over 200 avant-garde works by more than 100 artists and collectives from six Central Eastern European nations: East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania and Yugoslavia.

When: Dec. 13, 2024-April 21, 2025

Where: Vancouver Art Gallery - 750 Hornby St

Free Robson Square Skating

While you can't build a snowman anywhere at sea level in Vancouver, you can enjoy skating on an outdoor frozen rink in the heart of the downtown core. 

Robson Square's rink has free skating available through the winter, offering a magical location to enjoy a brisk outdoor activity followed by some hot chocolate. 

Helmets are mandatory for children under 12. They are free with skate rentals.

When: Until Feb. 28, from 9 a.m.-9 p.m.

Where: Robson Square Ice Rink - 800 Robson St, Vancouver

Cost: Free to skate. Skate rental: $5; Ice Cleat rental: $2; Skate sharpening (when available): $5.

With files from Lindsay William-Ross and Kyle Balzer.