Save the date! Birthday Live, Vancouver’s 125th birthday party event, will be held on Wednesday, April 6, from 2 to 9:30 pm. The celebration is a free, family-friendly event that will honour Vancouver’s diversity, its First Nations heritage, and distinction as a Canadian Cultural Capital.
Jack Poole Plaza will be party headquarters as various musical groups (including Vancouver’s own 54-40), Mayor Gregor Robertson, and other dignitaries will be on hand for the official ceremonies.
Program highlights for Birthday Live at Jack Poole Plaza include:
– Street hockey tournament for adult and youth teams from 2 pm to 5 pm
– Official ceremonies with Mayor Gregor Robertson, leaders of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations and other dignitaries
– Olympic Cauldron lighting
– A giant birthday cake created by the faculty and students at Vancouver Community College Baking and Pastry Arts Department and served to the crowd.
Main stage performances running from 4 to 10 pm:
– 54-40, the iconic Canadian alternative rock band with deep Vancouver roots, on the Birthday Live main stage as they celebrate their 30th anniversary
– Dene singer/songwriter Leela Gilday, Western Canadian Music Award winner, Canadian Aboriginal Music Award, and Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Award
– World renowned percussion ensemble, Uzume Taiko, traditional Japanese taiko drumming with a unique West Coast style
– Bend Sinister, a band on the leading edge of Vancouver’s vibrant indie music scene
– Vancouver Bach Choir to lead the crowd in singing O Canada and Happy Birthday
– mmHoP dancers
Time Drifts, a large-scale video and light art installation by Berlin-based artist Phillipp Geist, will provide an evening spectacle of history, space and time using projections, sound, fog and moving images. I’m particularly interested to see what he has in store for our city to celebrate its birthday!
Jack Poole Plaza (home of the Olympic Cauldron) is located at Thurlow and Cordova Street. Follow Vancouver 125 on Twitter and Facebook for last-minute news and updates.
