Among the hundreds of artists performing at this year's festival, headlining acts include Scotland's Battlefield Band, Tony McManus, Steafan Hannigan, Wendy MacIsaac & Patrick Gillis, Spirit of the West, plus the international supergroup Celtic Fiddle Festival. Along with musical performances, highlights include the Lucky Charms Poker Tournament, Battle of the Bards - a poetry face-off, the Whisky Kiss scotch tasting event and a brewmaster's dinner, as well as Celtic music and dance workshops. The most popular free event of the festival is the annual St. Patrick's Day parade, which will be held on Sunday March 16 from 11am, starting at the corner of Howe and Davie Streets in downtown Vancouver.
www.celticfestvancouver.com

• Capilano Suspension Bridge: Vancouver's oldest tourist attraction, Capilano Suspension Bridge stretches 137m (450 ft.) across and sways 70m (230 ft.) above the Capilano River. The park also includes the Treetops Adventure: seven suspension bridges through the evergreens taking you up to 30m (100 ft.) above the forest floor.
  www.capbridge.com
• Lumière: Long known as one of Vancouver's finest restaurants, Lumière combines European sophistication, modern French cuisine and North American resourcefulness to offer a choice of exquisite tasting menus. New chef, Dale MacKay, joins the restaurant from Gordon Ramsay's London, NYC hotel.
  www.lumiere.ca
• Salt Tasting Room: A chalkboard at the end of the modern room offers a list of local charcuterie, artisan cheeses, and unique condiments. Combine your selections with choices from the large number of wines and sherries by the glass.
  www.salttastingroom.com
• The Sandbar Seafood Restaurant: Located on Granville Island, a key spot for those interested in Vancouver's food scene, The Sandbar serves up fresh seafood in a warmly atmospheric space with fantastic views of downtown.
  www.vancouverdine.com

• Traveling, starring Jennifer Aniston, Aaron Eckhart and Martin Sheen
• The Day the Earth Stood Still, starring Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connolly and Kathy Bates
• The X Files Movie (currently untitled), starring David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson and Amanda Peet
• Watchmen, starring Billy Crudup and Jeffrey Dean Morgan

Inspired by the 36,000 cherry trees in parks, boulevards and private gardens across the city, the festival features the "Cherry Jam" outdoor concert, a Haiku poetry contest, plein-air blossom painting classes, tree talks and walks, trolley tours and a photo contest. A cherry blossom map will also be available on the website, marking the locations of some of the most beautiful blossom-viewing locations thanks to volunteer "Cherry Scouts" across the city.
www.vancouvercherryblossomfestival.com

Spring Break Theatre Festival
March 15 - 21
This Spring Break, visit Granville Island for the 11th annual Spring Break Theatre Festival. Five professional theatre companies specializing in theatre for young audiences will perform at various venues around the Lower Mainland during Spring Break week. The festival offers a range of great family entertainment for ages 5 and up. A sample of shows includes: The Big League (hockey hits the stage with a tale that tackles sports from a kid's point of view), Robinson Crusoe and Derwent is Different (a play about a boy who likes to be unique). All seats are $9 and performances are set at 50 minutes to accommodate for short attention spans.
www.artsclub.com/onstage/springbreak

Spring Break Camp for Kids at the Vancouver Aquarium
March 17 - 28
Spring training is back at the Vancouver Aquarium! This year, the aquarium is running their popular two-day marine camps over two weeks to accommodate even more kids on spring break. The "Conservation Crusaders" camp allows kids to learn about aquatic creatures, their habitats and how to help them. Through games, experiments, nature walks, hands-on experiences and behind-the-scenes opportunities, kids will experience the aquatic world like never before. Different dates accommodate kids from kindergarten up to grade 5. The two-day program is $160 and runs from 9:30am to 4:00pm each day.
www.vanaqua.org

Play Dome at BC Place Stadium
March 15 - 20
Experience Spring Break fun for everyone - right under the BC Place Stadium dome! Ride the ferris wheel, spin on the tilt-a-whirl, and snack on popcorn, cotton candy or mini donuts during Canada's largest indoor carnival. Visitors can enjoy over 45 rides and attractions all day with the "Dome Pass" - just $20 each. Parents who prefer to stay on terra firma and supervise pay just $6 for a guest pass.

Located just across from BC Place, the Georgian Court Hotel is offering a special Play Dome package that combines a stay at the hotel with all the fun of the carnival. Priced from $169 based on double occupancy, the package includes one night at the hotel and two passes for Play Dome.
www.bcplacestadium.com
www.georgiancourt.com

Opening February 7 and running until April 6, "Contemporary Crafts in BC: Excellence Within Diversity" showcases the work of over 90 BC artisans using fibre, glass, wood, metal, ceramic and mixed media to create vibrant pieces with West Coast flair. The exhibition celebrates the level of skill required to create pieces that combine function and aesthetics.
www.vanmuseum.bc.ca

"TruthBeauty: Pictorialism and the Photograph as Art, 1845-1945", presented from February 2 through April 27, brings together nearly 200 photographs from major museum collections around the world, including New York's George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film, Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The exhibition presents a fascinating look at the artistic movement that transformed photography from a tool of documentation to one of the most exciting means of visual expression of the twentieth century.
www.vanartgallery.bc.ca

1) Did you know you were going to grow up to be a "musher"?
No I didn't! I was working at a law firm in Australia before I came to Whistler and started dogsledding. It just sort of fell into my lap when a friend saw an ad in the paper for mushers. But I absolutely love it. It's a very rewarding job because the dogs love what they do. The closer you get to them the harder they work for you. My friends back in Australia definitely don't understand!

2) Can you accommodate large groups on your tours?
We're very happy to make special arrangements for groups. In the past we've had as many as 14 sleds going at one time. If you brought a large group to Mt. Seymour it might be fun to offer dogsledding in addition to some of the other great activities offered on the mountain like skiing, snow tubing, snowshoeing and snowboarding.

3) How many dogs do you have and what are they like?
Whistler Dogsledding has 330 dogs with 330 personalities - shy, flirty, rambunctious, curious, you name it. But all the dogs are really friendly and 95 per cent of them love the attention they get. Between them, they meet about 10,000 people a year on our various tours so they are great with our guests.

Mt Seymour's introductory dogsledding experience costs $49 for adults and $29 for children. Special arrangements can be made for groups and tour operators. For more information visit www.mountseymour.com or email asessions@tourismvancouver.com.