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Concertgoers are set to be spoiled this spring.
From early March until the onslaught of arena action in mid-June, everyone from recent Grammy Award winners out on headline tours to the rare return of legends who don’t often grace us with their presence on local stages are coming to Vancouver. Add in the vibrant local scene, and music fans are bound to keep busy until we welcome the world for FIFA and summer festival season in June.
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Until then, why not enjoy a variety of venue shapes and sizes? Mixing it up is the spice — and sound — of life. Which is why these are the five must-see shows this spring.
Music
Dálava
When: March 13, 8 p.m.
Where: Zameen Art House, 1515 Anderson St., Granville Island
Tickets and info: $22.63 at eventbrite.com
A rare performance from this exceptional group, which was founded by vocalist Julia Ulehla and guitarist Aram Bajakian and uses century-old Moravian folk songs as a launch pad for a unique avant-folk/jazz fusion hybrid that is positively soul-stirring. Part of the monthly Expressions Sessions at the intimate Zameen Art House, presented by prolific local promoter Infidels Jazz.
Raye — This Tour May Contain New Music
When: April 2, 6:30 p.m.
Where: Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre, UBC, 6066 Thunderbird Blvd.
Tickets and info:ticketmaster.ca
Dynamic U.K. singer Raye drops her sophomore album, This Music May Contain Hope, on March 27. With the leadoff single Where Is My Husband, the South London native with 20 U.K. Top 40 singles is ready to blow minds in North America. With Absolutely and AMMA as support acts, this is a chance to catch her headlining before she is back on the Bruno Mars dates at B.C. Place in October.
FKA TWIGS: The Body High Tour
When: April 3, 6:30 p.m.
Where: Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre, UBC, 6066 Thunderbird Blvd.
Tickets and info:ticketmaster.ca
Having picked up a Grammy for her excellent new album EUSEXUA Afterglow, multi-talented artist FKA Twigs is bringing her unique take on contemporary EDM and other styles to fans on a headlining tour. Previous appearances here have been as much about the theatre and dance elements as the music ones and one can only guess how much more production goes into a larger venue setting. Better still, Tokischa, Eartheater, Yves Tumor and Brutalismus 3000 are all support acts.
Pat Metheny Side-Eye III World Tour
When: April 27, 7:30 p.m.
Where: The Centre for the Performing Arts, 777 Homer St., Vancouver
Tickets and info: Ticketmaster.ca
Jazz guitar star Metheny released his first new studio album since 2020 last month. Side-Eye III+ finds the 20-time Grammy Award-winning bandleader joined by a quartet of bassist Jermaine Paul, pianist Chris Fishman, drummer Joe Dyson and vocalist Leonard Patton. They’ll perform a set of smooth-flowing pieces that delve into more straight-ahead territory with that distinctive rhythmic complexity that characterize many of his compositions.
Bonnie Raitt with special guest Jon Cleary
When: June 16, 8 p.m.
Where: Queen Elizabeth Theatre, 630 Hamilton St., Vancouver
Tickets and info:Ticketmaster
Classic rock star Raitt returned to the charts and regular touring with the release of 2022’s Just Like That … and shows no signs of slowing down. A spectacular slide player with a smoky voice to match her tasty blues solos, her live shows are know to span selections from across her 55-year career. With New Orleans soul ace Jon Cleary also on the bill this is going to be groovy.
Dance
The timing probably could not have been better for Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. With Shakespeare back in the cultural spotlight thanks to the movie Hamnet, the dance-drama adaptation is sure to spark conversation. Add the reputations of choreographer Guillaume Côté and director Robert Lepage into the mix and you have as surefire a hit as is possible in the world of dance. The other DanceHouse show we’re looking at is Manifesto, in which nine hoofers share the stage with nine drummers. And we’re excited about the inaugural program from a new company in town, Ballet Vancouver.
Ballet B.C. — Unity
When: May 7-9, various times
Where: Queen Elizabeth Theatre, 630 Hamilton St, Vancouver
Tickets and info: From $19 at balletbc.com
Ballet B.C.’s season-ender is a world premiere work from choreographic duo Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber that features a string quartet performing Philip Glass music live on stage. Smith and Schraiber, who were also responsible for Obsidian in the company’s 2024-25 season, have been busy. They choreographed Maggie Gyllenhaal’s latest film Bride, among other recent films, and are currently choreographing Glass’ Satyagraha for the Paris Opera.
Ex Machina and Côté Danse: Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
When: Mar. 18-21, various times
Where: Vancouver Playhouse, 600 Hamilton St., Vancouver
Tickets and info: From $40.75 at dancehouse.ca and 604-801-6225
Ex Machina and Côté Danse’s wordless adaptation of the Shakespeare classic interprets Hamlet through movement, lighting, and minimal set design. Created by choreographer Guillaume Côté, who also dances the title role, and director Robert Lepage, the show has earned praise for its choreography and visual storytelling. Reviewers have singled out scenes depicting Ophelia’s drowning and Hamlet’s internal struggle as well as LePage’s sets. Hamlet, Prince of Darkness is a co-presentation from DanceHouse and community partners Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival and Théâtre la Seizième.
Stephanie Lake Company: Manifesto
When: Apr. 16-18, 2026, various times
Where: Vancouver Playhouse
Tickets and info: From $40.75 dancehouse.ca and 604-801-6225
Nine drummers and nine dancers rock the stage in Manifesto, a joyful burst of percussive dance from Australia’s Stephanie Lake Company. Born in Saskatoon and raised in Tasmania, Lake is an award-winning choreographer whose previous works include 2023’s Colossus, which featured 60 performers. Manifesto is a DanceHouse presentation.
Ballet Vancouver: After the Rain & Other Works
When: Apr. 23-25, various times
Where: Vancouver Playhouse
Tickets and info: From From $46.91 at dancewest.net and balletvancouver.com
This spring sees the inaugural program from choreographer/dancer Joshua Beamish’s new ballet company, Ballet Vancouver. After the Rain and Other Works includes the Vancouver debut of the titular piece, a two-part work originally performed by New York City Ballet; the world premiere of a new Beamish creation in collaboration with Indigenous artist and fashion designer Yolonda Skelton; the live Vancouver premiere of Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Redemption, a solo dance that premiered in digital form at the 2021 PuSh Festival for Performing Arts; and the Vancouver reprise of Wen Wei Wang’s Swan, a modern reimagining of Swan Lake performed en pointe.
Family
It’s no coincidence that the summer months are when the majority of special family events occur. After all, school’s out and parents are looking for those all-important all-ages activities at that time of year.
But spring tends to leave folks to their own devices.
This doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of great things to do with the family over the next few months. In fact, it’s a good time of the year to take in some of the activities that can get a bit crowded when the weather warms up. Plus, cooler temperatures can make a strong case for a cup of hot chocolate at some point in the proceedings.
Here are five must-see family events coming up.
Vancouver Maritime Museum: Pay What You Can Sundays
When: The first Sunday of every month, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Where: Vancouver Maritime Museum, 1905 Ogden Ave.
Tickets and info: vanmaritime.com
Maritime travel has been an essential component of life along the Wet Coast since First Nations’ canoes travelled the region fishing, trading and getting from point A to B. Learn all about that history and more through such permanent exhibits as the Wooden Boats: From Tree to See exhibit, the RCMP St. Roch icebreaker and more. The Museum of Vancouver and H.R. MacMillan Space Centre also run a Pay What You Can Sunday, so you can enjoy all three Vanier Park attractions this way. A Vanier Park Attraction Pass for all three venues is also available for use on other days of your choosing.
Squamish Day Trip
When: Any day you choose, but go early
Where: Squamish, B.C.
Tickets and info: exploresquamish.com
Squamish used to be where you grabbed a coffee and filled the gas tank before heading up the Sea to Sky to hit Whistler’s slopes. Today, the district at the end of Howe Sound is a year-round destination for casual hikes, foodies, extreme sports types and families. From the massive gathering of eagles along the river in Brackendale to the absolutely breathtaking Sea To Sky Gondola ride and suspension bridge network, this is packed with family fun.
George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary
Where: 5191 Robertson Rd., Delta
When: Tues. – Sun., 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Reservations required.
Tickets and info: Adults, $10; Seniors, $8; children ages 2-14, $7 at refelbirdsanctuary.com
With its location right on the Pacific Flyway bird migration, this wetland sanctuary is absolutely packed with all manner of wildlife. From wee little brown jobs that will nibble right from your hand, and loud quacking waterfowl paddling by, to some of the most rotund squirrels in the Lower Mainland, visiting this spot just leaves you feeling fine. Very easy walking for all ages.
Tupananchiskama: Ancient Andean Cosmovision/Cosmovisión Andina
When: Opens March 19
Where: Museum of Anthropology, 6393 NW Marine Dr.
Tickets and info: moa.ubc.ca
This new exhibit looks at the worldview of ancient pre-Columbian Andean civilizations highlighting cosmovision — a term that relates to the idea of nature as a living entity that is directly in balance with the universe and the sacred forces that are exerted upon human beings. Through almost 100 ceramic, wood and bone works dating back over 2,500 years, this is a tour through humankind’s past and, perhaps, its future.
Vancouver International Children’s Festival
When: May 25 – 31, various times
Where: Granville Island, various venues
Tickets and info: Tickets on sale at childrensfestival.ca
The 49th instalment of this annual festival continues its track record of presenting the best in local, national and international theatre, music, dance, circus, puppetry and more. While it is geared toward a younger audience, all ages can enjoy the wonders of performers such as Japan’s Yuki the Juggler and his unique take on defying gravity with all manner of items. Every year packs in plenty of surprises.
Theatre
As winter turns to spring, the Lower Mainland’s live stages turn increasingly to musicals. Les Miz, Something Rotten, Kimberly Akimbo, Shrek: The Musical, Legally Blonde, Gunmetal Blues, Mamma Mia, Come from Away, The Producers, and the premiere of Corey Payette’s On Native Land play here over the next few months. All are worthy choices. But theatregoers cannot live on musicals alone — with one notable exception. Here are some of the most exciting stage shows to see this spring.
Shakespeare in Love
When: April 3-25
Where: Metro Theatre, 1370 SW Marine Dr., Vancouver
Tickets & info: From $35 at metrotheatre.com
What better memorial to the late Tom Stoppard than his glorious comic love story about Shakespeare and the miracle of theatre. The 1998 movie of Shakespeare in Love won seven Oscars including Best Picture. Daryl Cloran’s 2019 Bard on the Beach production was near-perfect. Now, newly revitalized Metro Theatre gives it a shot. Sarah Rodgers directs, with Bard’s Jacob Leonard as Shakespeare, the excellent Cassie Unger as Viola, and a special appearance by Simon Webb.
The Undeniable Accusations of Red Cadmium Light
When: April 18-May 3
Where: Firehall Arts Centre, 280 E. Cordoba St., Vancouver
Tickets & info: From $30 at firehallartscentre.ca
Ojibway playwright and humorist Drew Hayden Taylor has written a lot about “pretendians,” non-Indigenous folks who claim Indigenous heritage. But his pointed satire skewers all pretensions, no matter the race. His new play, set on the Otter Lake reserve, concerns pretendian First Nations art, specifically counterfeit Norval Morrisseau paintings. Anita Wittenberg stars, Columpa Bobb directs.
Come from Away
When: May 28-July 26
Where: Stanley BFL CANADA Stage, 2750 Granville St., Vancouver
Tickets & info: From $42 at artsclub.com
The great Canadian musical plays Vancouver for only the second time, co-produced by the Arts Club and Edmonton’s Citadel Theatre. The story of Newfoundlanders’ extraordinary hospitality to the 7,000 airline passengers stranded in Gander during 9/11 is done with brilliant modesty, combining true stories with superb music, stirring drama and quirky comedy. Ashlie Corcoran directs a cast of 12 including Vancouver standouts Charlie Gallant, Janet Gigliotti, Catriona Murphy, Kamyar Pazandeh, and Andrew Wheeler.
Sophie’s Surprise 29th
When: June 10-28
Where: York Theatre, 639 Commercial Dr., Vancouver
Tickets & info: From $44 at thecultch.com
The Cultch brings to Vancouver a smash hit from the Edinburgh Fringe. The Guardian describes Sophie’s Surprise 29th as “a circus and cabaret show masquerading as a birthday do,” a ‘90s house party “spun around a series of death-defying acts.” Thrilling, outstanding, breathtaking are some other reviewers’ epithets. And funny, too. This U.K. production features Cirque du Soleil performers among its cast of world-class acrobats.
Macbeth
When: June 11-Sept. 18
Where: Sen̓áḵw/Vanier Park, 1000 Chestnut St., Vancouver
Tickets & info: From $30 at bardonthebeach.org
Shakespeare’s shortest, nastiest, most powerful play opens on the mainstage this year at Bard on the Beach. After a 2025 season without a single tragedy it’s a relief to see that Bard hasn’t given up on the really tough ones. The Scottish Play stars two of the company’s most interesting actors: Munish Sharma in the title role and funny Tess Degenstein as Lady Macbeth — not exactly a bundle of laughs. Director Stephen Drover’s 2024 Hamlet was a Bard highlight.
Visual Arts
Spring sees the opening of exhibits suitably colourful and verdant, including a retrospective of Emily Carr’s work focusing on the B.C. artist’s relationship to nature and a show featuring Bobbie Burgers’ floral abstracts. On the less-cheerful side, another major show looks at climate change through a contemporary arts lens.
That Green Ideal: Emily Carr and the Idea of Nature
When: Until Nov. 8
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery, 750 Hornby St., Vancouver
Info:Vanartgallery.bc.ca, 604-662-4700
One of the most ambitious Emily Carr presentations in years, this major retrospective explores the B.C. artist’s engagement with landscapes and fascination with nature. Through paintings from the gallery’s collection to extracts from the artist’s journals, this show promises to present her work through various perspectives — ahead of its time, out of the mainstream, and as a path to healing, renewal and transcendence.
Tania Willard: Photolithics
When: Until May 24
Where: The Polygon Gallery, 101 Carrie Cates Ct., North Vancouver
Info: thepolygon.ca
Photolithics is a 10-year survey of work by Tania Willard that questions photography’s histories and possibilities. The new and previous pieces showcase a broad array of photographic printing, materiality and presentation techniques in work that blends light, land and material. For the gallery’s windows, Willard has devised a distinctive treatment that recasts the building as a “lens” and turns the sun’s rays into safe light for future encounters with sensitive historical records.
Bobbie Burgers: Assembly
When: Until Apr. 19
Where: Burnaby Art Gallery, 6344 Deer Lake Ave., Burnaby
Info:burnaby.ca
Vancouver-based artist Bobbie Burgers’ large-scale floral works use repetition, texture and scale to explore themes of ephemeral beauty and refined strength. Heading into spring, Burgers’ work offers viewers a chance to contemplate the cyclical nature of life. This exhibit focuses on her work on paper.
Future Geographies: Art in the Century of Climate Change
When: May 14, 2026-Jan. 10, 2027
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery, 750 Hornby St., Vancouver
Tickets and info:Vanartgallery.bc.ca
Featuring works from the past 25 years, Future Geographies is the first major exhibition in Canada to examine the intersection of the climate crisis and contemporary art on a global scale. Presented across multiple floors, the exhibit includes newly commissioned work, the Vancouver debut of work by several prominent artists, and major works by B.C.–based talents such as Brian Jungen, Gabrielle L’Hirondelle Hill, and Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun Lets’lo:tseltun. Following its VAG run, Future Geographies will travel to the Art Gallery of Ontario.
Art Vancouver 2026
When: May 28-31
Where: Vancouver Convention Centre East, 999 Canada Pl., Vancouver
Info:artvancouver.net
The 10th edition of this annual contemporary art fair features hundreds of galleries and artists from across Canada and the world. Talks, demos, Q&As, a competition, classes, and more, all TBA, are also part of the weekend.
Classical music
The major thrust of our classical music spring is blockbuster events intended to end the 2025/26 performance year with a bang. Each of our major performing organizations and presenters has something special on offer as the grand finales of the season. Here are my best bets for extraordinary experiences — with an added caution that some events may well be sold out.
La Bohème
Where: Queen Elizabeth Theatre
When: April 25-May 3
Tickets: vancouveropera.ca
Like embattled opera companies all over North America, Vancouver Opera is sensibly opting for old favourites in trying times. Favourites don’t come with more fans than Puccini’s 1896 La Bohème, which will run five performances with a double cast of principals. Everyone loves the tale, but the real bonus here is that VO’s past music director Jonathan Darlington will conduct. We can expect magic.
A German Requiem
Where: Pacific Spirit United Church
When: April 25, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: vancouvercantatasingers.com
Vancouver Cantata Singers plans a remarkable work to wind up its year: Brahms’s A German Requiem in the reduced version for soloists, choir and two pianos. Baritone Tyler Duncan, soprano Mireille Asselin, and the Bergmann Piano Duo join in this 19th century masterwork. Given a smaller choir and keyboards, this will be an intimate version of the piece; and that’s just fine for a work that’s ultimately all about consolation and hope, not grandiloquence and theatrics.
Víkingur Ólafsson
Where: Chan Centre for the Performing Arts
When: May 1, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets:vanrecital.com
The Vancouver Recital Society has no end of spring treats in store, including the incomparable lieder duo of Benjamin Appl and James Baillieu at the Chan Centre’s intimate Telus Studio Theatre March 19-22. But if I had to choose a single VRS spring event, it’s got to be the long-anticipated Vancouver debut of pianist Víkingur Ólafsson. He offers a big, musically demanding program of Bach, Schubert and Beethoven, all centred around the keys of E minor and E major.
Philippe Jaroussky
Where: Vancouver Playhouse
When: May 1, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets:earlymusic.bc.ca
Back in the days of Festival Vancouver, a young counter-tenor sang an unforgettable Vancouver debut at Holy Rosary Cathedral. Philippe Jaroussky has since established himself as the most admired counter-tenor of his generation, and he’s here this spring thanks to Early Music Vancouver. Would it be wrong to call Jaroussky a coloratura counter-tenor? He’s certainly got all the vocal moves. With baroque specialists Ensemble Artaserse, Jaroussky performs a selection of vocal compositions by Scarlatti, Vivaldi, and the 18th-century opera master Nicola Porpora — a glittering EMV season finale.
Mahler’s Third Symphony
Where: Orpheum Theatre
When: May 29-30, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets:vancouversymphony.ca
As their spring blockbuster, music director Otto Tausk and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra present Mahler’s Third, one of the biggest and grandest of all symphonies. It runs to six sublime movements, with enormous orchestral forces, solo mezzo soprano, women’s choir and children’s choir blended into the extravagant mix. Quite sensibly, the plan is to do it as the single work on the program, with an intermission. Mahler can be heavy, and the Third certainly has its dark moments. But the whole is life- affirming and ecstatic.
Books
Spring is coming and so are a lot of new book titles. To help you curate a top-notch spring reading list, here are five books with B.C. connections:
Strangers in the Villa
By Robyn Harding (Grand Central)
Vancouver’s Robyn Harding is at it again. This time the thriller master takes the reader to Spain and a lovely (not for long) hillside villa. In the new book from the author of the internationally bestselling The Drowning Woman, a couple begins a new life abroad in hopes of repairing the damage an affair has had on their marriage. While they settle into life in Spain, a couple shows up at their door claiming their van has broken down. The husband and wife invite them in and offer help. But that gesture spins into a whole lot of trouble as the stranded pair has no intention of leaving peacefully.
The Valley of the Vengeful Ghosts
By Kim Fu (Harper Collins Canada)
Giller Prize-nominated Vancouver author Fu delivers a novel about grief, ghosts and reality slipping away. Eleanor’s mother did everything for her — laundry, banking; she even planned her dinners. Then Eleanor’s mother dies. Left adrift, Eleanor, an online therapist, focuses on her mother’s last instruction: use her inheritance money to buy a house. Once in her new home, everything begins to unravel as endless torrential rains begin to pour through cracks in the house leading to cracks in Eleanor’s sanity as she is forced to look deep into some deeply buried secrets.
When the World Was Twice as Big
By Aaron Cully Drake (Nightwood Editions, April 7)
The Coquitlam writer, whose first book Do You Think This is Strange was shortlisted for the Amazon First Novel Award, brings his characters Freddy and Saskia back into the spotlight for his new novel. The story begins with Freddy beating up three other teen boys who are hassling Saskia. The incident at school sends Freddy into a spiral thinking about family secrets, and sorting out what is fact and what is fiction as his memories of a horrific incident return to further upend his life.
Dreamer’s Daughter
By Lori Thicke (Simon and Schuster Canada, April 7)
University of B.C. graduate Lori Thicke’s coming-of-age memoir begins with her and her younger brother, aged 10 and five, respectively, being left by their mother in the care of their free-spirited and very often misguided father. While living in a small mining town, the family home burns down. Dad, the dreamer, sees the fire as a blazing sign that he and the kids should hit the road for a cross-country adventure. Beginning in 1968, the chaotic story is filled with tension and unease. In the end, it also proves to be about resilience and, most importantly, love.
The Caretaker: A Novel
By Marcus Kliewer (Atria Books, April 21)
Macy Mullins is a 22-year-old recent college graduate with a mountain of debt. She needs a job, like now. But sadly, her inbox is full of AI-generated rejection letters. Things change when she sees a posting for an ‘exciting opportunity’ as a caretaker for an elderly husband. Set on the Oregon Coast, the gig soon goes from kind of strange to flat-out frightening as an unbelievable evil rolls in like the morning mist. Vancouver writer Kliewer is once again delivering the creepiness — he wrote the chilling novel We Used to Live Here, which is in development for a film starring Blake Lively — in this new page-turner.
