27 things to do in Vancouver this weekend: March 1 to 3

Welcome to March, everyone! Here are 25 fun events happening on Friday, March 1, Saturday, March 2, and Sunday, March 3. Fan Expo Vancouver, South Asian Fashion Week, and more.

And for more things happening around town be sure to check out our events section.

See also

• The biggest things to check out at Fan Expo Vancouver 2019
• Mingle with adoptable canines at this dog documentary fundraising party
• Channel Parisian vibes in Vancouver at this French Moderns exhibition

Friday, March 1

South Asian Fashion Week

What: SAFW brings together some of the best South Asian designers in the industry. The three-day event kicks off on March 1 with an evening gala, featuring luxury brand Falguni Shane Peacock. Runway shows take place on Saturday, March 2 and Sunday, March 3.

This year, guests will also be able to visit the Art Gallery Lounge, which features a collaborative art exhibit of canvas art, painted fashion, and poetry curated by artists Don’t Doze. Guests will also be able to enjoy the flavours of Indian, Pakistani, Afghan, and Bangladeshi cuisine at the SAFW Cafe.

When: Friday, March 1 to Sunday, March 3, 2019
Time: Various times
Where: Plaza of Nations — 750 Pacific Blvd.
Tickets: Available online

Twilight Drive-In

What: Located in Langley, the Twilight Drive-In will once again welcome viewers to its venue, beginning next Friday, March 1. The opening weekend double feature, running from March 1 to 3, will be Aquaman at 7:15 pm and Glass at 9:50 pm.

Open: Friday, March 1, 2019
Time: Various
Where: 260th Street and Fraser Highway – Langley
Admission: $12.50 (general admission) $10 on Tuesdays, $28 on Thursdays for carload (max. 5 people) $7.50 for children $10 f0r seniors.

Vancouver Ball Pit Party

What: The Ball Pit Party bills itself as “an adult wonderland combining the playground filled with balls and our awesome bar serving your favourite cocktails.” Need more motivation to attend? Organizers say the event also includes “top DJs spinning tunes.” The event takes place at The Westside Grand, located at 1928 W. Broadway, and tickets are sold in two-hour slots to play in the ball pit.

When: Friday, March 1, and Saturday, March 2, 2019
Time: 3 pm onward
Where: Westside Grand – 1928 West Broadway
Tickets: $20+ $4 in fees, available online

Prisoner of Tehran

What: Prisoner of Tehran is a multidisciplinary performance work featuring dance, theatre and storytelling based on Marina Nemat’s best selling book “Prisoner of Tehran.” A collaboration between Nemat and Motus O Dance Theatre, the work is a spoken memoir in her own words within a landscape of movement, followed by a Q & A with the audience.

When: Friday, March 1, 2019
Time: 8 to 10 pm
Where: Evergreen Cultural Centre – 1205 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam
Tickets: Online

Fan Expo Vancouver 2019

What: Fan Expo runs from March 1 to 3, 2019, at the Vancouver Convention Centre and is a hot spot for all things sci-fi, fantasy, and horror. Fans will have a chance to meet celebrity guests like George Takei, Pamela Anderson and Billy Dee Williams at photo ops and autograph signing sessions, as well as hear from them on stage during spotlight panels. It’s also an oasis for comic book fans, cosplayers, and video game lovers.

When: March 1 to 3, 2019
Time: Various times
Where:  Vancouver Convention Centre – 999 Canada Place
Tickets: Available online, $25 to $30

Vancouver Giants vs Kelowna Rockets

What: Vancouver Giants face off with Kelowna Rockets at the Langley Events Centre.

When: Friday, March 1, 2019
Time: 7:30 pm
Where: Langley Events Centre – 7888 200 Street, Langley
Tickets: Online

Whose Live Anyways?

What: “Whose Live Anyway?” features Ryan Stiles along with fellow comics Greg Proops, Jeff Davis and Joel Murray. Together, they perform many of the hilarious games made famous on their Emmy-nominated TV series, “Whose Line Is It Anyway?,” which aired from 1998 to 2004 and returned to the airwaves in 2013.

When: Friday, March 1, Saturday, March 2 and Sunday, March 3, 2019
Time: 8 pm (Friday and Saturday), 7 pm (Sunday)
Where: Hard Rock Casino – 2080 United Blvd, Coquitlam (Friday), River Rock Casino – 8811 River Rd, Richmond (Saturday and Sunday)
Tickets: Available online at Hard Rock Casino and River Rock Casino

Saturday, March 2

Vancouver Whitecaps vs Minnesota United

What: Vancouver Whitecaps kick off the new season against the Minnesota United on March 2 at BC Place.

When: Saturday, March 2, 2019
Time: 3 pm
Where: BC Place – 777 Pacific Blvd, Vancouver
Tickets: Online

Little Big Town

What: Grammy-award winning foursome Little Big Town bring The Breakers Tour to Abbotsford with special guests Midland and Ashley McBryde.

When: March 2, 2019
Time: 7:30 pm
Where: Abbotsford Centre – 33800 King Rd, Abbotsford
Tickets: Online

The Vancouver Outdoor Adventure & Travel Show / The BC Bike Show

What: Find your next adventure at BCs largest adventure show offering pre-season deals on the newest outdoor gear and amazing travel destinations. See kayak, scuba and stand up paddle boarding experts in the Whitewater Demo Pool or ignite your passion for biking, hiking, climbing, water or mountain sports at over 200 exhibits.

When: March 2 and March 3, 2019
Time: 10 am to 6 pm (Saturday), 10 am to 5 pm (Sunday)
Where: Vancouver Convention Centre – East Building – 999 Canada Place, Vancouver
Tickets: Online

Come Try Ringette

What: The Surrey White Rock Ringette Association is hosting this free event that is open to all children, ages four and up, who want to try Ringette. The qualified instructor will introduce participants to this fun, on ice sport. Pre-registration is required. Skate and Helmets will be available. No skating experience is required.

When: March 2, 2019
Time: 9:45 to 11:15 am
Where: Surrey Sport and Leisure Complex Arena, 16555 Fraser Highway, Surrey
Register: Online, Free

Film Screening: Two Japanese American Documentaries

What: A free screening of two inspiring documentaries about the Japanese American incarceration, its reverberations, and lessons for today: For The Sake Of The Children and And Then They Came For Us.

When: March 2, 2019
Time: First film at 1 pm, second film at 2:10 pm
Where: Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre – 6688 Southoaks Crescent, Burnaby
Tickets: Online, Free

New Westminster Innovation Week

What: The 3rd Annual Innovation Week is a week of events, activities, learning opportunities, and more for people of all ages and backgrounds. There will be an Innovation Forum — expanded to include a B2B Startup Tradeshow, the comprehensive Transportation Forum, child and youth programming, and a special marquee event in celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8.

When: Saturday, March 2 to Friday, March 8, 2019
Time: Various times
Where: Various locations
Tickets: Online

Adad Hannah – The Decameron Retold

What: Adad Hannah’s, The Decameron Retold, is a newly commissioned artwork by the Richmond Art Gallery based on the 14th-century literary work, The Decameron, by Giovanni Boccaccio. The medieval collection of novellas is comprised of 100 tales told over 10 days by 10 young women and men sequestered in a villa outside of Florence to escape the Black Plague.

When: Now to April 20, 2019
Time: Various times
Where: Richmond Cultural Centre — 7700 Minoru Gate, Richmond
Admission: Free

Pacific Immigrant Resource Society: Non-Tech Social Hackathon

What: Pacific Immigrant Resource Society (PIRS), a non-profit organization, is hosting a social non-tech Hackathon to solve the problem of childcare for immigrant women and newcomer families. Namely, how to create a social enterprise model that provides childcare services to non-profit, employs immigrant women; and is profitable or financially sustainable. If you are start-up entrepreneurs, programming stars, business people, accounting personnel, university students and creative people, join us for this one-day event.

When: Saturday, March 2, 2019
Time: 9 am to 4:30 pm
Where: Harbour Centre — 555 West Hastings Street
Tickets: Online, free

L’Elisir D’Amore (The Elixir of Love)

What: Experience a story of Nemorino, a poor peasant who is in love with Adina, a beautiful, wealthy landowner, but Adina doesn’t know he exists. To add to his dilemma he has a rival; Sergeant Belcore, who is openly courting Adina. How to attract her attention? He needs a miracle. Just in time, along comes a travelling medicine man, Dr. Dulcamara, with his “Elixir of Love.”

When: Saturday, March 2, 2019
Time: 8 pm
Where: Shadbolt Centre for the Arts – 6450 Deer Lake Avenue, Burnaby
Tickets: Online, $15-$36

18th Annual Talking Stick Festival

What: The Talking Stick Festival began as a way to showcase and celebrate Indigenous art and performance to a wider audience. The unique and exciting event has grown into a full two-week festival held annually in February at locations across Vancouver. Now attracting over 18,000 attendees each year and still growing, Talking Stick is noted as being the premier, multi-disciplinary Indigenous arts festival in North America.

When: Now to Saturday, March 2, 2019
Time: Various times
Where: Various venues
More Info: Online

Sunday, March 3

Vancouver International Wine Festival 2019

What: Canada’s premier food and wine festival, the Vancouver International Wine Festival, features 160 wineries from 15 countries. Known as “one of the biggest and oldest wine events in the world,” the festival will feature a plethora of California Wines this year, the showcase region for 2019.

Attendees can expect to see over 1,500 wines poured at the 54 events over the festival’s nine-day run. As always, HQ for the wine fest will be the Vancouver Convention Centre, but more than 20 other restaurants and venues around the city will host winery dinners, lunches, and seminars.

When: Now to Sunday, March 3, 2019
Where: Venues around Vancouver
Tickets: Advance tickets online. All public events go on sale January 9 at 9:30 am; All trade events go on sale January 23 at 9:30 am

Cannery Farmers’ Market

What: The Cannery Farmers’ Market is Steveston’s indoor winter market, held at the Gulf of Georgia Cannery National Historic Site. This unique market features local food and artisan merchants, inside a historic cannery setting. Admission to the museum is free on market days, with guided heritage tours by donation.

When: Sunday, March 3, 2019 
Time: 10 am to 3 pm
Where: Gulf of Georgia Cannery National Historic Site – 12138 Fourth Avenue, Richmond
Admission: Free

Driverless Vehicle Demonstration Vancouver 2019

What: The driverless shuttles will travel along a one-km-long route on West 1st Avenue between the northwest corner of the intersection of Manitoba Street and West 1st Avenue and the Canada Line’s Olympic Village Station parking lot. All rides are free to demonstrate the viability of such autonomous transportation technologies for the City of Surrey and City of Vancouver’s joint partnership for Infrastructure Canada Smart Cities Challenge bid of creating Canada’s first two collision-free multimodal corridors with driverless vehicles.

When: Now to March 3, 2019
Where: Western terminus: Canada Line Olympic Village Station parking lot. Eastern terminus: Northwest corner of the intersection of Manitoba Street and West 1st Avenue
Cost: Free! Book online to avoid lines

Appurv Gupta

What: Engineer turned comedian, Appurv Gupta is a unique voice in India’s Stand-Up Comedy scene. CNN-IBN listed him in the Top 20 Stand-Up Comedians to watch out for, and Forbes India listed him in the Forbes India Celebrity 100 Nominees list.

When: March 3, 2019
Time: 6 to 8 pm
Where: Burnaby Hall – 7837 Canada Way, Burnaby
Tickets: Online

Japan Food Fair

What: Hosted by the Vancouver Buddhist Temple, this “food bazaar” is small but mighty, and will feature eats such as maki sushi, saba sushi, chicken teriyaki, sweet sticky rice balls, Japanese Steamed cake, udon noodles, and more. Proceeds from the events will go towards supporting the temple and its programs. Everything at this spring food fair is affordable, most dishes are under $10 unless you’re purchasing a tray or a bundle

When: Sunday, March 3, 2019
Time: 12 to 2 pm
Where: 220 Jackson Avenue, Vancouver
More Info: Online

BC SPCA’s Treat Week

What: A number of local businesses have partnered with the BC SPCA and pledged to donate a portion of proceeds from certain treats sold between February 25 to March 3 to support abandoned, abused, or neglected animals. The participating venues include Beaucoup Bakery, Butter Baked Goods, DALINA, and La Glace to name a few. Check out more details online and see the full list of participants.

When: February 25 to March 3
Where: Multiple venues around Vancouver

Sunday Night Movie at Bells and Whistles

What: Bells and Whistles kicks off its new Sunday Night Movie Series on March 3 at 9 pm with classic surf movie Point Break. Keep coming week after week to see Superbad (March 10), Space Jam (March 17), and Tropic Thunder (March 24) to name a few.

When: Every Sunday starting March 3, 2019
Time: 9 pm
Where: Bells and Whistles – 3296 Fraser Street, Vancouver
Admission: Free

Treehoppers are Way Cool because

What: Luis Camacho is an Ecuadorian naturalist doing his PhD at UBC Zoology. His talk will address the ecological challenges treehoppers face in their natural habitats, as well as how their pronotum and behaviour allowed them to spread from the lush Amazonian jungle up to the high Andes.

When: Sunday, March 3, 2019
Time: 1 to 2 pm
Where: Beaty Biodiversity Museum 2212 Main Mall, Vancouver
Admission: Included with museum admission or membership

Chor Leoni PopCapella

What: Chor Leoni PopCapella explores the intersection of choral, jazz, and pop music in collaboration with one of Canada’s best-known jazz artists, Jodi Proznick, and her handpicked band. Expect favourites like Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now,” “Fields of Gold” by Sting, and more.

When: Friday, March 1, Saturday, March 2, Sunday, March 3, 2019
Time: Various times
Where: Vancouver Playhouse – 600 Hamilton Street, Vancouver
Tickets: Online