Has reading week caught you with your bank account very low? Realized too late that your “treat yourself” life-style doesn’t go well with a three-day trip to Cancún?
Do not despair!
I, an incredibly cheap person myself, have gathered activities and events worth checking out this week before your last-minute cram on Sunday night.
Free Stuff (!!!)
1. Visit Granville Island
This colourful island can be a delightful break from procrastinating all those papers due in March. From theatre to art, Granville Island tries to offer something for everyone. If you are a jazz lover, from the 23rdto the 25th, you can enjoy the outdoors concert, Winter Jazz: A Cure for Seasonal Affective Disorder, with varying times each day!
2. Stroll through Stanley Park
Embrace the amazing city views from the safety of the majestic trees around you, some of them hundreds of years old! Do it for your sanity, for the ‘gram, or for both.
3. Go to the Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge
It’s aesthetically pleasing, and accessible by transit!
4. Do the Quarry Rock hike at Deep Cove
Combine this with your Lynn Canyon trip and some donuts from Honey Doughnuts & Goodies and you are good for the day!
5. Interesting Vancouver Public Library Events:
- Drop-In Resumé Clinic– Tuesday 19th– 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm at Central Library
- Black History Month: Little Black School House– Tuesday 19th– 6:00 pm to 7:45 pm at Firehall Branch
- Incite: Resilience In Storytelling– Wednesday 20th– 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm at Central Library
- Journeys of Hope: Challenging Discrimination and Building on Vancouver Chinatown’s Legacies– Thursday 21st– 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm at Central Library
6. JFL Northwest Block Party – Monday 18th– 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm
At šxʷƛ̓exən Xwtl’a7shn, formerly known as the Queen Elizabeth Theatre Plaza, this block party will provide free Tim Hortons hot beverages, as well as have a beer garden, a selection of food trucks, an LED games tent, and Pitch Perfect 2star, DJ Flula!
Cheap or By-Donation
1. Vancouver Art Gallery (By Donation)
Check out this Vancouver staple on Tuesdays! Some of the current exhibitions are The Metamorphosis, and A Curator’s View: Ian Toms Selects.
2. Just for Laughs: Film Festival Vancouver ($10 – $20)
Featuring short and feature film screenings, premieres, panels and more, with various venues across Vancouver, this could be a fun event to check out with friends, significant other(s) or by yourself! Prices vary per event.
3. Talking Stick Festival 2019 ($10 – $60)
Presented in the traditional unceded territory of the Coast Salish People, the Talking Stick Festival brings magnificent Indigenous performances and art features, from February 19thto March 2nd. Prices vary per event.
4. Coastal Dance Festival ($25 and By Donation)
This festival provides a space for Indigenous artist to share their art and traditions. Their program goes from Feb. 22ndto 24thand is divided in two: Signature Evening Performances ($25 for students and MOA members) and Festival Stage Performances (by Donation).
5. Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival ($17 – $40)
From Feb. 23rdto March 3rd, the annual film festival takes place all over Vancouver (including UBC’s very own Frederic Wood Theatre), and features film screenings, photography exhibitions, workshops and more! Prices vary per event.
This is without including the things you can check out (for free as UBC students!) around campus, such as the Aquatic Centre’s hot tub and sauna, go the Nitobe Memorial Garden, the Museum of Anthropology, Biodiversity Museum, Pacific Spirit Regional Park or check out the tree walk at the UBC Botanical Garden (access to the garden is free but the tree walk is $10 for UBC students).
Regardless of what you end up doing or not doing (looking at you, “midterm” paper #2), hope you have an awesome reading week!