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Toronto R & B singer Jully Black is among the performers doing her thing in free-to-the-public shows during the 2010 Games, in Surrey, Vancouver and Whistler.
February 9, 2010
25 free and near-free ways to enjoy the Games
Posted by Rob Klovance
The 2010 Winter Games arrive and you're left with tickets to a few, or perhaps zero, sporting events. There's a party going on and you're feeling a little left out.
Don't worry, get busy. The list of free and near-free events in Vancouver, Whistler and beyond is as long as Zdeno Chara's hockey stick (and far less intimidating).
You can join hundreds in cheering on Canadians in live athletic events on huge screens, and all members of your family will be wowed at various regional and national pavilions. You can generate electricity by dancing, tour a Home of the Future, use your brainwaves to light up the CN Tower and, for a small fee, you can sample regional gourmet fare at many pavilions.
And perhaps above all, you can get in on some dynamite free music. When's the last time you had a chance to see the likes of Blue Rodeo, Jully Black, Matisyahu, Wilco or Sam Roberts for free? When's the last time you could take a chance on a band you'd heard great things about – bands like Montreal's Malajube – without spending a penny?
For a more comprehensive list of free entertainment in and around Vancouver, check out citycaucus.com. Also look to the Vancouver Sun's excellent online Olympics section for events, news and a printable listing of all 2010 Winter Games athletic schedule.
In the meantime, here's a look at 25 free and near-free best bets for Vancouver and beyond.
Live on the big screen
Live sports at a theatre near you
Music in Whistler
Music in Vancouver
Laser Waterworks Show
Home of the Future
Zip line, Robson Square
LiveCity Yaletown
LiveCity Downtown
Richmond's O Zone
Interaxon Bright Ideas, Ontario House
Sochi House
Club Energy
Fire & Ice Remixed, Whistler
Russian skaters in Abbotsford
En Francais
Four Host First Nations Pavilion
Bombardier Streetcar
4D Ontario
Expression Wall
Vectorial Elevation Light Display
Robson Square skating rink
Spot Stephen Colbert
North Shore ValleyFest & Surrey Celebration Site
LunarFest, Vancouver & Richmond
Live on the big screen
It's Super Bowl Sunday pretty much every day, except that the athletes are here in B.C., and Canadians are usually in the running for gold. Big screens abound in Vancouver, including LiveCity Downtown, LiveCity Yaletown and the Robson Square Celebration Site , along with various national and regional pavilions, the Bell Ice Cube and BC Hydro's own Power Smart Theatre.
Whistler features nine screens around the village, while fans in Richmond will congregate at the O Zone. Other big-screen sites include Surrey 2010 Celebration Site, West Vancouver Spirit Square, Abbotsford Live Site, and North Vancouver's WinterFest at Lonsdale.
Live sports at a theatre near you
Cineplex is opening up screens in cities and towns across B.C. for live viewing of 2010 Olympics events. It's not free – $9.95 plus tax per broadcasting day or $29.95 plus tax for a pass for the entire Games – but it includes in-and-out privileges and a chance to join fellow fans for the big events. See the Cineplex site for details, including a listing of theatres that will be showing the live Olympics feed.
Music in Whistler
The best place to experience the Olympics, complete with snow, will be Whistler. And it could be quite a party, thanks to a list of free music performers including Bedouin Soundclash, Matisyahu, Swollen Members, DJ Czech, Barenaked Ladies, Corb Lund, Jully Black, Maestro Fresh Wes, Sam Roberts, Constantines, Wintersleep and Blue Rodeo. For a full list of events, including affordable Victory Ceremony shows featuring the likes of The Fray and Devo, go to Whistler2010.com.
Music in Vancouver
The calibre of musical entertainment at the LiveCity Downtown, LiveCity Yaletown, and the Place de Francophonie (Granville Island) is good enough that you're going to want to get to the big shows early. With everything from the wildly popular Hasidic Jewish reggae star Matisyahu to acts like Blue Rodeo, Karkwa, Jully Black, Wilco, Elliot Brood and screamcore stars Alexisonfire, it's going to fun. And sometimes very loud.
Laser Waterworks Show
Following free music each night at LiveCity Yaletown (starting February 13), a large pipe in False Creek will send water into the air as a backdrop for a laser show that starts just before 11 p.m.
Home of the Future
It's not just a couple recycled steel shipping containers wrapped in cedar cladding and pine beetle wood. It's a showcase for the latest in home conservation, from smart appliances and a solar garage housing a plug-in vehicle to a green wall and hybrid water heater.
BC Hydro Power Smart's Home of the Future at the Power Smart Village and from around 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. each day from February 10-19, it will also include a look at General Motors' extended-range electric vehicle, the Volt.
Zip line, Robson Square
Take a free 170-metre zip line ride above the law courts at the Robson Square Celebration Site. Starting February 12.
LiveCity Yaletown
On the water's edge at David Lam Park, this is arguably the place to be for music, especially when each night's headliner wraps up with the Laser Waterworks Show just before 11 p.m. There 's a big screen to take in live Olympic events, and there's interactive kids school programming that is extended to families between 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
LiveCity Downtown
There's a nice family focus at LiveCity Downtown, where street performers, daytime interactive school programming and the Canada Pavilion's focus on the history of Canadian Olympic and Paralympic sport should wow the kids. Get them in line early for the interactive slapshot and snowboard games, join Canadian fans cheering on our athletes on the big screen, then return for the musical entertainment that runs until 1 a.m.
Richmond's O Zone
Richmond's official 2010 celebration site serves up virtual reality sports, fitness tests and a walk down B.C. Street, featuring a glimpse at regions and towns from across the province.
And then there's the big screen to watch live Olympic sports and a musical lineup that includes Kathleen Edwards, Our Lady Peace, The Stills, Bedouin Soundlash, Marianas Trench and Tokyo Police Club. Sign up on the O Zone site before February 18 to get in on a draw for tickets to speed skating at the Richmond Olympic Oval.
Interaxon Bright Ideas, Ontario House
This could be the coolest thing you'll see at a 2010 pavilion. At Ontario House, visitors wear a special headset and work their brains alpha and beta waves to control – in real time, for the enjoyment of people three provinces away – lights on the CN Tower, Parliament Buildings and Niagara Falls. Wow.
Sochi House
Science World becomes Russky Dom. As the Russians take over our kids' favourite place to play, word is that they'll be going all out in preparation for the next Winter Games, 2014 in Sochi, Russia. There are rumours of a vodka fountain, chant and dance contests, plus celebrity appearances that will include interactive hockey showdowns with Vladislav Tretyak and some guy named Pavel Bure. Nostrovia!
Club Energy
The kids love it, and so will you. BC Hydro's Power Smart Village features a sustainable dance floor that actually generates electricity, and lights up the floor, as you dance.
Fire & Ice Remixed, Whistler
Kid Koala, DJ Czech and a fab list of other DJs provide the music each night. Then it's up to local painters to etch creations into glass placed over the stage lights. The resulting projection hits the mountain's snow to dazzling effect.
Russian skaters in Abbotsford
They arrived February 1 and will be staying, and training in front of the public, at Abbotsford Recreation Centre through February 17th. They are the Russian pairs ice dancers, pairs and men's figure skaters, warming up or the Olympics. There will be lineups to get in, but what a treat this would be.
En Francais
C'est fantastique! The first thing you see on the Place de Francophonie site is a popup telling you that all events are free. Billed as a place to live and celebrate the Games in French, it looks like it will deliver, with great music and performances. And don't miss Quebec House, that place with the big Q on the side, between Ontario House and Sochi House (Science World).
Four Host First Nations Pavilion
As you walk down Georgia Street, you'll spot the pavilion's 65-foot-high inflatable dome jutting out of a Coast Salish longhouse. There's a multimedia show inside the dome, and a daily lineup of aboriginal entertainers, from drummers to Inuit throat singers. This is also the place to buy official 2010 aboriginal merchandise – get there early to get the coolest stuff.
Bombardier Streetcar
A demonstration project aimed at bringing the streetcar back to Vancouver, the Bombardier Streetcar forms the free "Olympic Line" between the Olympic Village Canada Line Station and Granville Island, site of Place de Francophonie. The streetcars are beautiful, and backers of the project are hoping we all jump on board to start lobbying for the cause.
4D Ontario
Yeah, it's that Ontario House, again. Clownish 3-D glasses combined with very active seats and surroundings turn this tightly-edited, six-minute travelogue of Ontario into a smile-inducing thrill ride.
Expression Wall
Got something to say about conservation or an inspiring greeting or visual for Canada's Olympian? Then head over to Power Smart Village, pick up a virtual paint can and do your thing on the electronic Expression Wall. Bring the kids and, if you're lucky, you'll be around when one of several guest artists takes the lead.
Vectorial Elevation Light Display
From dawn until desk each night of the Olympics, lights will dance over English Bay. And you get to help design the show by going to http://www.vectorialvancouver.net/, and you get a personalized web page as a memento of your visit.
Robson Square skating rink
It's not a big rink, but the fact it's outside (under a roof) and in the middle of downtown Vancouver is impressive enough. If you can bring your own skates, that's probably a good idea, as rentals will be limited as the crowds grow.
Spot Stephen Colbert
An unofficial spectator sport at the 2010 Winter Games, catching a glimpse of late-night TV comedy host Colbert may just extend beyond the Richmond Olympic Oval, where he'll be cheering on the U.S. skaters he has taken up as his personal cause. We can all thank "chief syrup sucker" Ted Townsend, media relations manager at the City of Richmond, for extending the invitation/challenge to Colbert.
North Shore ValleyFest & Surrey Celebration Site
Another can't miss with the kids, the ValleyFest at Lynn Valley's Village Square will allow you to take in live sports on a big screen while also setting free the wild ones in ball hockey games and other valuable pre-nap actitivities.
Surrey Celebration Site, meanwhile, is also family-friendly with plenty of interactive fun including a toboggan zone. But it also features top-notch performers like the Goh Ballet, Blue Rodeo, Mother Mother & 54-40.
LunarFest, Vancouver & Richmond
Designed by children, aboriginal creators and artists from Taiwan and Canada, the LunarFest Lantern Procession will light up the night from February 22-28. And on February 13, you can take part by making your own lantern and joining the procession. See the LunarFest listing on vancouver2010.com for details and directions to the event in Vancouver and Richmond.
Rob Klovance is managing editor of bchydro.com, and he's proud to say he lit up Niagara Falls with his mind.
