I've now lived in Vancouver for 2.5 years, and I've attended this holiday festival/market three…read moretimes. My friend and I have an annual tradition of going to this Circle Craft event (as well as the Make-It festival, held at the PNE); for us, it's a great way to welcome in the holiday period and, also, to soak up the creative energy here in the city. We really like how they feature a diverse array of local artisans: jewelry makers, knitters and clothiers, art pieces, ornaments, skin care and beauty products, glasswork, woodwork, metalwork, toymakers, fashion accessories, pet items, baby and kid stuff, and a ton of amazing gourmet foods - chocolates, honey, spices, drink syrups, bakery goods, oils and vinegars, and everything in between, from soups to nuts (literally!). It's a fabulous way to get one's holiday shopping done and to support local artisans and small businesses, too. And for my friend and me, we enjoy getting inspiration from the creativity in products and marketing out there. Some years this Christmas market is better than others, as there are more vendors at times, or more contemporary or unique artisans some years. This year, for example, we found this event to be way better than last year (and it was pretty good last year! Hence, we returned!). For some reason, this year there were a ton more artisans that catered to our personal aesthetic. This is totally subjective, of course, but we visited last night (got a 1/2 price ticket to attend after 5pm. Note the event runs to 9pm in the evenings), and we liked so many artisans that we only made it halfway through the convention hall. (This has never happened before!). Luckily, you are able to get a "free re-entry pass", so we can come back again and not have to pay entry. Bonus! (I plan to return tomorrow, to see the rest of the exhibits). I see one reviewer noted that you cannot take photos here. That's not totally true. Some vendors encourage you to take photos; just ask them first! (One artisan who makes amazing handbags and purses out of rubber tires suggested we take some pictures of the items we like, to give to "Santa" for our wish list, with a photo of his booth, too, so family members can find him the following day). I think it's reasonable that some artisans prefer their work not be photographed for fear of others duplicating their unique creations. Again, it's common courtesy to ask before taking pictures of other people's homemade works. We love how most of the food venders dole out samples of their treats! It's like a gourmet Costco here! We sampled some of the most delicious cakes and fudge and nuts and beverages. Of course, this is great marketing, as we ended up purchasing a lot too. There is a coat check available ($3), and there's always a raffle to win a huge prize (remember to fill out the raffle form and put it in the big lucite box by the exit door). My only gripes? The waiting area outside the convention hall is huge and cavernous and many of us are always waiting for our friends to arrive - but in total there are two tiny benches to sit at, at the far end of the hall (by the washrooms), each able to accommodate two people. For such a huge space, they really need to get more seating. Many of us were standing quite a while, waiting on friends - and some of those standing were elderly people. Not cool. Also, the have a food area in the rear of the convention, where we usually get a light bite. The dining options are scant, with few meals to choose from, and all are mediocre at best, and very much over-priced. And the seating areas have always been dirty when we've eaten here, with food crumbs all over the long tables and chairs, and napkins left on tables and spills on the floors. This area really needs to be cleaned up more. (At least they provide free cold drinking water in the center. Look for the water coolers and disposable cups).

This is my first time at the Circle Craft Christmas Market. Its quite interesting. But You also…read morehave to be really into craft to really love this place. Funny enough, I loved the food section. Guess that explains it all what kind of person I am. You would end up spending hours here. I mean eventhough I am not artsy and didn't spend money on buying their craft work. I did end up spending 3 hours there. As a tip, go online and get their after 5pm admission ticket, its half price and if you google, you will find a $1 off coupon. So admission becomes $6. Also before you leave, remember to grab a reentry ticket. You might need to come back to grab a few more things (like from their food section) I enjoyed being at the Christmas Market.

I visited in November 2024, and it was my first time at the Eastside Culture Crawl. I found out…read moreabout it by chance on social media. I came on the last day a few hours before it ended, so I was only able to experience a bit of it. I went to one of the featured buildings of the event, Parker Street Studios, and went through all four floors of the building. It's a massive building that used to be a mattress factory decades ago, but now it's a hub of over 100 individual artist studios. It was crowded but not incredibly hard to move around. The Eastside Culture Crawl is an awesome event for art nerds. You get to see all kinds of art including painting (oil, watercolor, acrylic, gouache), drawing, sculpture (clay, stone, metal, wood), printmaking, photography, textile arts (weaving, embroidery, quilting, knitting), ceramics (pottery, porcelain, stoneware, earthenware), mixed media (collage, assemblage, multimedia), digital art, glass art, and jewelry (metalwork, beadwork, enameling, wire wrapping). There were at least a handful of people walking around in each of the individual studios. Some were lounging on the couches to admire the art, some were standing and talking about the pieces with their friends, and some, like me, were quickly taking a peek and walking around to see the next studio. I kind of rushed through it due to the lack of time left, but I'll definitely come back next year. What's nice is that you can meet and chat with the artists about their works and buy their works directly from them in person. Public washrooms were easy to access, which is great. As for food options, a couple of food trucks were outside with not much of a queue. There were a couple of long tables for eating food with tents over them because of the rain. As a transit user, it's easily accessible from the 22 Knight/Downtown bus, just a couple of blocks away. I highly recommend visiting the Eastside Culture Crawl, especially if you are a fan of fine arts and crafts, or just as an interesting annual social event with friends during the fall season. Best part is that admission is FREE! I don't really have any complaints about this event. 5 out of 5 stars based on this visit.

I am SO surprised that I am adding this event now, that there is no existing Yelp page for this…read moreannual, major arts and crafts festival that just celebrated its 25th year! It's a very established festival, always held late in November, focused on Vancouver's vibrant fine arts, crafts and design scene. Essentially, artists all open their studio doors to the public during this event, and so we the public can check out painters (all mediums and genres), pottery makers, glassblowers, textile artists, collage makers, sculptors, jewelry makers, woodworkers, and more. Not only can we check out the studios, but often we are able to talk to the artists themselves. There are furniture makers, photographers, weavers and printmakers. There is practically every kind of artistic endeavor represented here, on display and often for sale. There are abstract works, contemporary pieces, more traditional works, and everything in between. It is amazing! Geographically, the festival is located in the area bounded by Columbia St., 2nd Ave., Victoria Dr., and the Waterfront. This is primarily a gritty, industrial area distinguishable solely by non-distinguishable large, grey warehouses. And within each warehouse is a labyrinthine maze of offices, big and small (mostly small), converted into artists' studios. One could literally spend a whole day exploring one of these large warehouses, as they are jam-packed with studios on every level. (Note that it is super easy to get lost, too! Which is part of the experience. I was reminded of the elaborate corm mazes I've walked through in the fall, getting lost around most corners, having to backtrack often. It was part of the charm of the experience, especially when repeatedly passing by the same people who were also disoriented and lost a bit!). I've wanted to attend "the Crawl" for the past 4 years, ever since I moved here, and this year, I finally did. And I was not disappointed! I just wish I had given myself more time to explore and see more. Next year I will know to start earlier in the day. It's easy to lose track of time here, and there is SO much to see. Why I love this event: HUGE range of artists, all genres and mediums. Great event to expose oneself to the Van art scene, talk to artists, learn about crafts, get inspired. The event is FREE. Yes, FREE. Not very common in Vancouver, I know! And parking in the area is also FREE. All the artists in the studios we visited had their works for sale, so if you want to get artisan work and support local people, this is the spot! There were also studios where you could actually see the works being made and watch the artistic process (we saw som wood furniture being made and glassblowers doing their thing). There are quite a few food trucks all throughout the area, if you get hungry (man, some of them smelled amazing!). Also, we were gladdened to see that they checked everyone's COVID passports before allowing people inside each warehouse. Here's the reason I didn't give the event five stars: even though it was great that they checked all our vaccine passports prior to entry, they did not restrict the number of people inside. Some warehouses and the studios in them were SO SO packed, my friend and I were SO uncomfortable. This was particularly true of the warehouse that housed most of the glassblowers. It was wall-to-wall people and, yes, we were all wearing masks, but still, we're in a cramped and enclosed building with cramped and enclosed rooms, and some of the studios here were totally full of people when we visited. It was unnerving and we had to leave this building sooner than we would have liked. It would have been better to only allow "x" amount of people in the building at one time.

This was my first year attending the Vancouver Mural Festival, and I decided to attend it with my…read morefamily after seeing photos that were taken by my parents from last year's festival. A large stretch of Main St. starting from East Broadway was closed off from cars for the festival for vendors, though most of the wares that were displayed weren't related to murals. The murals were located mostly in East Vancouver in the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood between East 15th Ave. and East 5th Ave. There were a few in the West Side of Vancouver which I did not visit. What makes this mural festival special is you can see the artist paint the artwork on the walls and buildings. Almost all of the artwork is bright and saturated with punchy colours. What are the themes? First Nations, East Vancouver, West Coast lifestyle, dreams, tasteful street graffiti, abstract art, human life and nature. I saw a limited number of murals because my Dad only wanted to see the new ones that were created for this year. Apparently, they have mural tours, and I will probably do it for next year, as I love to walk and see artwork. This event is like the East Side Culture Crawl but it's all outdoors!

I will start this review with a disclaimer saying that what I did BARELY counts as attending…read moreTaiwanFest - I just came here for my lunch break at work, so I was pretty much in and out to grab some food. It's open to the public with no admission fee, so anyone can pop in and out. The core festival was laid out over two blocks downtown, with the main stage in the Art Gallery Plaza and a market area on Granville between Robson and W Georgia St. I got food from Sasaya Bistro in the Art Gallery plaza and a drink from the Taiwan Bar on the Granville Block. Sasaya was the only (fresh) food vendor in the stage area. The majority of food vendors were set up on Granville. There were some tables and chairs set up in the festival area on Granville but nowhere near enough for the amount of people there, which I imagine wasn't even the biggest crowd the festival would see as I was there right after they opened. It looked like there was more seating around the Art Gallery, and I ended up just sitting at a table outside Pacific Centre Mall. Sasaya had a big menu and I was (pleasantly) surprised that about half of it was vegetarian. I ordered the vegetarian fish cake "bento". It was vegetarian fish cakes (I'm guessing tofu) with a hard-boiled egg, slaw, and pickled daikon over rice - I would've called it a rice bowl and not a bento, but whatever you call it, it was pretty good. The egg may have been a little overcooked, but I'm not getting too picky on festival food. They had self-serve condiments available including garlic, hot sauce, vinegar, and soy sauce. When I ordered, there were some people waiting for their food, but no line to order, and my food was ready in about 5 minutes. While I was waiting for my food, I wandered over to Tea Factory Gen's tent which was right across. This is a tea farm from Japan. I got to sample some fantastic Japanese teas and walked away with a box of houjicha. The "Taiwan Bar" on Granville was serving Taiwanese summer drinks: black tea w/ ice cream, lemon aiyu jelly, grass jelly, and roselle tea. I got the grass jelly drink. Lots of grass jelly in there. With my limited encounter with this festival, the biggest complaint I had is that most of the vendors were not Taiwanese or Spanish (this year's theme was "Dialogue with Spain"). I respect that they're giving community artisans and food vendors a space to sell, but I think it's weird to go Taiwanfest and see so many vendors that have nothing to do with Taiwan. It was almost the same as going to a farmer's market.

I don't know what happened but TaiwanFest 10 years ago was so much better. It seems to be going…read moredownhill with each passing year. I remember back then, they would have a finale performance on the last day and one year, they even invited Ding Dang (丁噹)! I am quite disappointed this year, especially with what happened today. There's only one food vendor at the main stage (in front of the Art gallery) - Sasaya, and either they were expecting to serve 10 people or they have a really inefficient workflow. My friend and I ordered just 1 order of Taiwanese fried chicken, and just this 1 order took over an hour. We literally took turns standing there for an hour watching them struggle to keep up with the demand. I would have appreciated if they at least gave us a heads up, something like they're behind and will be a long wait. They also did not apologize or acknowledge this at all. They were FAR from keeping up with the demand. Finally when I saw what might be our order sitting there, I asked the lady if that was for "C5" (our order). She said she doesn't know.... Horrible. Only the lady who was taking the order and calling out numbers was able to read her own writing on the receipt apparently. Indeed very frustrating. If you wanted a drink, there was also another line up to order drinks. Some time during that 1 hour of waiting, I went and got a milk tea with pearls. This was probably the worst one I've ever had in Vancouver. I don't know if it was this particular batch, but it tasted super watered down. Do not recommend. Taiwanese fried chicken was tasty and freshly fried but 1000% not worth the 1h wait. If you're in downtown, sure, check out the festival but make sure you are ready to wait or don't depend on the food vendors here, unfortunately.

Anyone that knows me knows that Christmas lights are my jam. So the fact that this whole festival…read morewas dedicated to a Christmas light maze had me the most excited I have ever been about the holidays. I bought tickets fairly early (like, right when it tickets were released... yes, I was that excited), so I believe I only paid $14 for one ticket. There were a lot of people who complained about the price, but to be honest, I was willing to pay that for a fun holiday night out. On the day that I went to visit, the snow on the ground was a little slushy, but that didn't stop me from having a good time. It was also a little bit crowded, but that also didn't stop me from having a good time. My point is, no matter what negative thing could have happened, I was still going to make sure I had the best time. Upon entry into the maze you're given a small map where you have to find all of Santa's reindeers. Once you find them, there's an employee standing in front of the reindeer and they give you a stamp. I'm not quite sure what the prize was if you found all the reindeers. In addition to the maze there are food trucks lined up and a large covered seating area for you to enjoy yourself after/before the maze. You have to pay additionally on top of the ticket, so you're looking at about $30 for the night per person. Which I mean, isn't that bad if you really think about it. Overall, I had a fun time. If Enchant were to be here in Vancouver in 2017, I'd 100% be there. But until they come back, I'll just look at pictures from Enchant 2016 and think about frolicking through a Christmas light maze.

I wanted to love Enchant but it ended up being just ok. I know there were issues with drainage when…read moreit first opened but those issues seemed to be resolved when I went (and it was raining the evening I went). I'd still recommend wearing proper boots or running shoes. It was super packed when I got there around 6pm. There were quite a few parents with strollers. It was fun trying to find all the reindeer and I bet kids loved this too. I enjoy looking at Christmas lights but found these to be a bit lackluster and boring. Maybe it's just my preference but I prefer more variety. These were just white lights. I also found it odd that they had a sleigh for Santa but no Santa. Overall, it didn't seem very festive. They had food trucks and a marketplace with some neat products and trinkets. A bit pricey but not outside of what you would usually pay. I don't think I would go again. To me, it wasn't worth the $20. I enjoy Van Dusen Gardens much more and I believe it's a bit cheaper. If you do go to Enchant, I recommend wearing good shoes and going a bit later, maybe 8pm or so if you're going without kids. It'll probably be less busy.

This place is fun and of course foodie goodness!!! There are about 20 food carts and of course…read moreeveryone of them are unique and different in their own ways. First stop: I had the mogu miso burger. That was my favorite for the day at the festival. Their burger was cooked just perfectly, very juicy and I can taste the miso flavor. I also got the mogu ice green tea. That green tea was very refreshing. Love it on a hot day like today (around 27 degrees). The miso burger was $8 and plus $1 for the ice green tea (if you get it with the burger) Second stop: I tried was the bulgogi taco at Disco Cheeta. The taco had a hint of spiciness to it from the kimchi. So that had a very unique taste to it. They are also selling their homemade lemonade. Its seems like that lemonade is pretty popular. I didn't get it but I think that will be a must get next time. The taco are $5 each and if you get two its $9. Third stop: I went to Kaboom box and got the poutine and oyster. The poutine gravy was not salty and it didn't make the fries soggy. The poutine was delicious. The oyster was so so. It was a bit over fried. The poutine was $8 and each oyster is $3 Last stop: I went to Rocky Point Ice Cream. I got the single scoop Earl Grey + Honey. I like the fact that they don't charge extra for the waffle cone and best of all the scoop was pretty perfect and big. No cheating. So excited about that ice cream. The ice cream was delicious. ice cream was $5 for a single scoop. Later I went to visit the Vancity booth and it wasn't easy playing the Vancity win a prize game when you are holding on to an ice cream cone. However, it was fun though. As well there is a small flee market at the corner. Which was quite interesting. One had really interesting cat photos for sale and the other had really interesting plants that are not in pots but are in books. You really got to see in order to know what I mean. Sorry didn't take a picture of it. As well they have a couple of ping pong tables and a small man made beach for people to relax and maybe get a sun tan. Also they have a big checker game and jumbo Jenga in the center where all the tables and chairs are located. Don't worry about parking. there are lots of street parking near by in that area. I have to conclude I am definitely going back. Love this place. Its not easy to try all food truck given my stomach room limitation. Hints: Vancity member goes in for free.

Came out to see the hype, and hopefully try out some of the goodies that the food trucks have to…read moreoffer. Parking is available along W.2nd, as well as the side streets. The day I went, it was absolutely pouring rain. Despite the best efforts of the organizers, this really did wipe out the crowds. My friends and I spent the event shivering under one of the tents that the organizers had thankfully put up. Unfortunately, as a result of the weather, we also decided to eat elsewhere, so I cannot comment on the food. I can see this thing being a pretty fun event when it's nice and sunny outside. Oh well, next year.

This free art festival has been sharing and celebrating Japanese Canadian culture for 49 years! It…read moreis one of the largest and longest running arts festivals in Canada. As a Japanese, Canadian, American citizen it touches my heart to see a collaboration of the artists, vendors and festival goers like me from all backgrounds sharing and learning about our histories. In the 1920's Oppenheimer park was once a thriving hub for Japanese Canadians. Sadly in 1942 during the war, they were forced to vacate this area. After, some returned and rebuilt their lives in Vancouver, Steveston and Richmond. It was moving to hear the chairwomen of the Powell Street Festival Society express and thank the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh), and Musqueam Nations for allowing the festival to be held on the unceded territories. Craft shopping, art demos and eating filled the next couple of hours. I purchased floral handmade cards, Japanese themed handmade jewelry, "sushi candles"and ate fresh made tayoyaki. Yummy! Traditional Japanese dancing and the unique "Big Print" art demonstration using a steamroller was entertaining to see. It was a beautiful, sunny day in Vancouver and a heartwarming experience!

I enjoyed honestly but very inconvenient location. Oppenheimer park used to be used for this…read morefestival. More people could gather around the stages and enjoyed activity freely. More eating spots and chilling spots with nice food. But right now homeless people's tents occupied it. Powellstreet festival is held on the street literally. If they need big space, then use intersection. I have sympathy to homeless people too but I felt something wrong because the park should be public and more flexible to use for anyone and any occasion. If you like Japanese hand made craft, I recommend to come to first day of the festival. They are so popular.

for my #100 REVIEW (whoohoo!) I decided to go on a date.. 14 mini-dates to be exact!…read more I went to this great event as part of the Playhouse Wine Festival in Vancouver called Meet your Match.. kinda like speed dating but with wine proprietors from around the world. The event took place at the convention centre.. we spent about 6 minutes with each proprietor who brought along one of their renowned wines. A tiny bell would ring and our small group would move on to the next table. We were one of the first (if not the first) to be able to have this experience.. they are hoping that this is the direction wine tasting is going in.. and if it does, I'm on board! Each winemaker would talk about their wine and their vineyards, talking to how the wine was made, the flavours and the inspiration for them. They would also give some history behind their winery as well as let us pick their brains. Had tons of fun and learned lots! Oh malbec, my malbec! They featured 3 different malbecs at the event which were all great.. my fave was Enamore (meaning to fall in love.. and that I did!). An article on the event said it was worth 10 times the price of admission and it was! We sampled wines ranging from $30 something to $350 a bottle. Here's a list of the featured wines: WINERY / WINE Bonterra Bonterra McNab Ranch / Biodynamic Viña Dona Paula / Seleccion de Bodega Falesco / Falesco Montiano Weingut Gunderloch / Nackenheim Rothenberg Riesling Spatlese Kendall-Jackson / Highland Estates Camelot Chardonnay Louis Latour / Mersault Chateau de Blagny Matua Valley / Paretai Sauvignon Blanc Mission Hill Family Estate / Compendium Perrin et Fils / Hommage à Jacques Bodegas y Viñedos Renacer SA / Enamore Rocca delle Macìe / Rocca delle Macìe Roccato Bodegas Trapiche / Manos Malbec Champagne de Venoge / Grand Vin des Princes de Venoge Bodegas Vistalba / Tomero Gran Reserva Malbec

What better way to warm up your weekend than a Friday night at the Wine Festival? I had previously…read morebought three tickets for Christmas, one for me, one for the BF and one for my Mom (cuz who doesn't love the gift of wine?) so we could go booze/schmooze it up together. I'm sure its probably way less busy on the Thursday night, but who wants to drag their sorry ass into work hungover on a Friday? That is no way to start your weekend. There were almost 800 wines for sampling from 15 countries and 180 wineries - that's a lot to get through in 3 hours! There are also little snacks, so you can get some bread after your stomach is bloated and full of booze and you start to feel drunk, as well as olives, dolmathes, chocolates and a coffee station. But don't try and sneak a piece of bread if you didn't wait in line. I got my hand smacked by one of the ladies working in the booth with a snarky "can't you see there's a lineup?" To which I replied "yes" cuz that's what smartasses do. I did get in line, and I did fill up my plate with bread, since I was basically chugging each sample of wine I got. They do have spitting buckets at the tables for the real connoisseurs, but let's face it, we were just there to discover new wines and get drunk. I did discover some new wines and most of the retailers have small cards next to the wines so you can grab one and take it with you and remember what it was that you liked. I, on the other hand, thought I would be exceptionally sneaky and downloaded the BC Liquor Store app on my iphone so all I had to do was scan barcodes of wines I liked. The problem with that was some of the wines I scanned were not available in BC, so that didn't work. And the other problem was that I got so drunk I forgot to save the scans, so the app told me everything I wanted to know about the wine; cost, where to find it, what it was called, but I failed at actually saving it to my favourites. D'oh! Tickets for the wine fest are about $95, which may seem a bit steep but I highly reccomend you check it out. Its like being at an open bar for 3 hours! I would also like to point out that they encourage responsible drinking and there is a booth set up that will give you a bus transfer so you get home safely. I may be a lush, but I'm not a fucking idiot, I took a cab.

$7 is way to expensive for admission, even if they give you a free pass for the rest of the season…read more Their social shopper and Groupon had more restrictions than a drug commercial. My two favorite vendors are not there this year, the whole reason why I wanted to come here in the first place. I tried finding their booth on the web, however, wasn't able to or thought that their name was different. The souvenir mugs this year are 1/2 size. All the food booths are way too overpriced. $10.50 for vegan watered down borscht? $7 for a small waffle on a stick? Really? Why is there an Asian cultural centre booth at what is supposed to be German festival booth. Same goes for the PNE fast food booths. Are there no requirements to be at a German fest....say....be German! It gets very squishy and crowded inside, elbow to elbow. For a small place it gets confusing inside layout wise.

I gave the market another go in the afternoon on opening day 2015. These factors worked in my…read morefavour. There were no crowds or lines, and the deal on the website wasn't too bad. My nephew actually was able to run around and we rode the carousel three times without ever having to wait in a lineup. Much preferable to the ridiculousness we experienced last year. Go early in the season, and early in the day!