10 Vancouver Summer Events

Mark your calendars, folks. With events that tout Shakespeare, offer up succulent summer foods and break into jazzy riffs, Vancouver explodes with life during the summer, and you'll be kicking yourself if you miss the action. Culture, music, celebrations, festivities…whatever your interest, there's a Vancouver event for it.

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  Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival

  May-September
  To those who think Shakespeare is dull, we counter, "Thou doth protest too much." After all, Bard on the Beach does Shakespeare like no one else -- that is, with "bard-b-que and fireworks," Shakespearean lectures and the essential element for this Vancouver tradition, the waterfront at Vanier Park. The 2009 season features such classics as "The Comedy of Errors," "Othello," "All's Well that Ends Well" and "Richard II." www.bardonthebeach.org

Theatre Under the Stars

July 10 - August 22
Theatre Under the Stars offers great family musical theatre at Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park. Playing on alternating evenings are two favourites, the all time family favourite "Annie" and the high spirited musical romp, "Thoroughly Modern Millie". Both popular musicals are sure to be summertime hits at TUTS.www.tuts.ca/

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  Vancouver International Jazz Festival

  June 26-July 5
  People ask us why we love Vancouver, and we just point to an event like this signature jazz festival, yet another one of the city's great music traditions. Held since the early 1980s, the festival has hosted jazz greats such as Miles Davis, Bobby McFerrin and Tito Puente. History aside, jazz fans have the chance to experience 400 concerts, 1,800 musicians and 40 venues around the city. Talk about getting jazzed up. www.coastaljazz.ca

Canada Day Celebration at Canada Place

July 1
If you don't find something amazing to do at Canada Place's celebration, check your pulse. Last year's event included shows that knocked our socks off: aerial acrobatics, indoor ski and snowboarding tricks, music stages, dancers and opera. Do we need to go on? Fine: a 10k run, CTV trivia, Squamish drumming, face painting… www.canadaplace.ca/canadaday

Vancouver Folk Music Festival

July 17-19
Thirty-two years in the running is nothing to sneeze at, and when 300 musicians come together at Jericho Beach in the name of folk, something special is going to happen. Check out the soulful Basia Bulat, the funk-African sounds of Umalali and the bluesy Corey Harris. Plus, the Vancouver Folk Music Festival is introducing a beer garden for the first time in its history. So grab some suds, kick back and experience the culture of folk. www.thefestival.bc.ca

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  2009 HSBC Celebration of Light

  July 22, 25, 29, August 1
  Once a year, pyrotechnics take over English Bay and the night sky bursts with colour. The HSBC Celebration of Light isn't your ordinary fireworks celebration. We're talking about the world's leading fireworks designers going head to head with international counterparts that are putting on events in their own countries (South Africa, United Kingdom and China) in this international competition.

Vancouver Pride Parade

August 2
Each summer, the LGBT community comes out to play, and boy, do they know how to play. Now in its 31st season, the parade proceeds from Robson Street to Denman Street, ending at the Sunset Beach Festival. It's a wild ride, drawing more than a half million spectators with colourful costumes and outrageous flair (and we're not talking about the floats). www.vancouverpride.ca

MusicFest Vancouver

August 2-16
Formerly known as Festival Vancouver, MusicFest rivals North America's biggest music festivals and throws in a bit of Vancouver class as well. Genres include classical, world and jazz, and you'll hear the buzz coming from nine different venues throughout the city. www.festivalvancouver.bc.ca

Vancouver Chinatown Festival

August 8-9
The already vibrant Chinatown comes alive for a major summer block party unlike any other. It's hard to even describe how fantastic the food will be, and with a variety of stage performances, tours, exhibitions and children's activities, the festival has earned its keep as one of the summer's must-see events. www.vancouver-chinatown.com