CouveCast episode 11 Summer Events in Vancouver

Join me in an episode with Erik Miletich as we chat about fun events this summer in Vancouver! Enjoy some fun in the sun and learn about some great options at our parks!

Transcript

Speaker 0:00

Welcome CouveCast, the City of Vancouver's official podcast, hosted by Steve Harris. Each episode is a mix of city insights, stories, behind the scenes, and hopefully a few laughs along the way. No jargon, just real talk with the people shaping Vancouver's future. One episode at a time.

Steve 0:19

Welcome to CouveCast, the City of Vancouver's official podcast. I'm your host, Steve Harris. And today we will be talking with Erik Miletich, Special Events Supervisor with Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Services of the City of Vancouver. And today he is here to talk about the fun stuff that's going to be going on in Vancouver this summer. Erik, thanks for joining me. Thanks for having me. Of course. So fun stuff. But before we get into summer events, I'm going to throw you a curveball and uh shout out to Parks for all the fun stuff they do for everybody during the summertime. One of those being uh summer activities for kids. And I'm sure there's going to be uh events they can sign up for, a catalog, the you know, summer camps, that kind of stuff going on.

Erik 0:58

Yeah, the the parks and recreation department has so many things going on uh throughout the summer, and some of those things have have already opened, and you know, things like our summer camps uh fill up really quickly.

Speaker 2 1:09

And so I was just gonna say they probably fill up real quick.

Speaker 1 1:12

Yeah, so um, but there's so much going on, and then our community we have two different community centers that have drop-ins and memberships, and so there's so many different opportunities to get involved, uh whether you're in our parks or within our facilities.

Speaker 2 1:25

That's uh Marshall and Firstenburg.

Speaker 1 1:27

Marshall and Firstenburg, one's on in East Vancouver, one's in West Vancouver. Um so yeah.

Speaker 2 1:33

And there's quite a bit. I mean, you've you got pools, there's there's basketball, volleyball, climbing wall, pretty much anything you think of. And then, of course, not just at the community centers, you can do activities like uh uh uh flag football, soccer, any of that stuff too at this time of year.

Speaker 1 1:47

Yeah, and our recreation department also has uh partner organizations that uh we work with that um third-party uh uh basically recreation uh offerings uh throughout the summer as well. So uh beyond what we directly offer ourselves, so we have some some great opportunities uh with some some partner organizations that do sports camps and uh cheer camp and everything like that.

Speaker 2 2:11

Little known fact. I actually coached uh one of those flag football leagues during the summer camp with parks. That was a lot of fun.

Speaker 1 2:18

Yeah, flag football's uh definitely uh a favorite amongst the kids.

Speaker 2 2:22

So it's a good one. Let's get on to summer events. Uh let's start with concerts. I know that um uh you have ones on the east side and then also ones down here. I've got one on the east side, the amphitheater out there is beautiful, by the way. Um and there's food vendors. So so talk to people, maybe if if no one's been to any of these yet, uh, what can we expect when we with the summer concerts?

Speaker 1 2:41

Yeah, I'll start with uh the Sunday Sounds concert series, which is at Columbia Tech Center Park, um, which I will mention that is uh it is a really beautiful park and facility. Um little known that it's actually not a city-owned park, it's owned by uh a uh Pac Trust, uh, which is a real estate development company in the area. That uh years and years back they approached the city about having concerts in East Vancouver, had this you know kind of facility. Um, and the concerts, you know, were such a hit that they decided to build this beautiful amphitheater, um, which is which is really uh beautiful and also beneficial to our team because uh it's it's less um set up on our end to uh it's already good to go. Yeah, it's good to go. Um so in a lot of ways it's um a very uh beneficial partnership with with their team. And so uh but yeah, the the Sunday Sounds concert series, um we'll have six concerts throughout the summer that begin on uh Sunday, July 12th. They go from 6 to 8 p.m. Um and a variety of different uh it's largely focused like cover band type bands. Um you'll get uh you know Tom Petty tribute band. We also have uh just like 80s hits and just top hits type of uh music down there. So people are having fun, dancing, uh bring the kids, good energy. There's a kids zone, so uh dedicated area for kids to play. So we want it to be family friendly, uh, make sure that everyone has an opportunity to have something for them. You know, we uh one thing that we we implemented the kids zone just a few years ago um and took out the the beer garden, uh kind of changed them out, and it was um well received just because uh it allowed uh you know, kids don't necessarily want to sit down for two hours. Oh the folks, um yeah, and so it allows the kids to to interact and play and the parents can hang out with them, but also attend the concert and enjoy that, and so in a great um implementation.

Speaker 2 4:43

Yeah, and those seem to be pretty packed, at least when I go. Uh and bring your own lawn chair, of course.

Speaker 1 4:48

Yeah, bring your own lawn chair. Um, and then uh yeah, we we estimate uh between 3,500 to 4,000 people for most concerts. Um so we definitely get really great turnout for those. And then uh we usually have about five or six food vendors, um, good variety of uh different uh food options and in terms of tacos or Euros or um you know we we also have uh dessert type options and popcorn, caramel corn, yep, we have uh kettle corn and then uh lemonade. So whatever you're looking for, we probably have. Um and a lot of them are most all of them are local food vendors too, which is uh which is really great. So local, yeah.

Speaker 2 5:34

Uh okay, and then on this side of town, uh on the west side, what uh what's another option for uh concerts?

Speaker 1 5:40

So in uh July we have four waterfront concerts uh that will start off on Thursday, July 9th, and those take place uh on Thursday evenings from 6 30 to 8 30.

Speaker 2 5:53

Okay.

Speaker 1 5:54

Um we you know we push those back a little bit from years past, and it gave a little bit more time for people to get down here on a on a Thursday evening, get parked, and get settled. Make sense. And so that's been um a great little change that we made. And um, yeah, those those you know are um really well attended as well. We get you know anywhere from 1,500 to 2,500 people in that park, which is um huge, you know, it's not the the biggest community park, it's it's a little pretty linear and narrow. Um and so we get a really good turnout, and there's uh just so many people in that area in general that are just walking through and curious about what's going on and they stumble, yeah. Exactly, they stumble across the concert, which is really cool. And uh they uh especially people that are visiting that are in hotels and nearby, and just like how great uh is it that this community has these these free concerts for the community. Um, and then one uh change for this year is that um there's gonna be uh Waterfront Way directly in front of the event space is gonna be closed to provide better uh traffic between the street, just because there's with that many people having uh that access back and forth on both sides of Waterfront Way is gonna be uh critical for safety and just walkability in that area for during the concerts.

Speaker 2 7:15

Probably kind of nice if you're down there just to kind of walk around and have to worry about you know cars coming and going.

Speaker 1 7:20

Exactly. Um it's a really busy street where cars have typically uh cut through, and especially for during a concert, people um tend to want to kind of peek by to see what's going on. So it would be nice to have less uh traffic going through there and allow more pedestrian safety because there's so many restaurants right across the street as well that people are going to and coming kind of back and forth, and so we definitely encourage people to show up, um, you know, either bring a uh picnic and your own your own food or grab a bite at one of the great restaurants that are right there at the waterfront.

Speaker 2 7:53

Yeah, very handy. In fact, I'm sure some of them you could even get to go and just bring it out with you instead of watch the concert.

Speaker 1 7:58

Exactly. There's a lot of grab and go options, so um, whether it's uh uh pizza or burger or or whatever they have, um, and then there's also uh salt and straw right down there at the the waterfront of the street.

Speaker 2 8:09

Let's hit over right now. Um I'm good, I'm good for that. Okay, so uh summer concerts. Um also uh the uh was it the Vancouver uh Arts and Music Festival? Well tell me about that. I I don't know too much about it.

Speaker 1 8:23

Yeah, so the Vancouver Arts and Music Festival started uh just this will be our fourth year going into it. So we've done three uh arts and music festivals that take place at Esther Short Park on the first full weekend of August. So in this this case, it's gonna be um August 7th through the 9th, so Friday, Saturday, Sunday uh festival. Um there's kind of been some different iterations in terms of our layout. Um so uh we have three different stages. We have the main stage at Esther Short Park, and then we have um we actually have four total stages. So we have uh the main the main stage, then we have uh two community stages that one of them is more focused on um having a lot of like local bands on on that stage and music, and then the other stage is more focused on a lot of our local and talented uh dance and performing artists. And so um those will have activation pretty much uh throughout the entire day, those community stages. Um, and then each evening is uh performance on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, who's an equal equal partner in in this uh arts and music festival, and I'm really grateful for their partnership. And so that's continued to uh grow each year, and uh the the demand and the applications that we get for uh being a part of this festival has continued to grow. And and so, you know, just this year um, you know, for for food vendors, we received uh over 40 applications, and obviously we can't accommodate that many. Um our artist vendors in the park, we had over 125 applications, and um, and then uh for our music and dance application, we had over uh 200 applications, and so a lot to a lot for uh our team to to process through, and we have community groups that uh help with that, and so okay. Um but it's it's uh definitely uh uh it's definitely a growing um festival, and uh you know one new thing for this year is that we're also closing down uh 6th Street between Esther and Columbia. Okay, because we're also gonna have more artist uh booths that um are lined between City Hall and the Hilton. Um so that just gives us a little more capacity in uh what we can accommodate in terms of um artist vendor booths, and uh and so that will be uh a really another example of like great uh pedestrian safety and walk, being able to walk between the street, between uh the City Hall, Hilton, and Esther Short Park, and then inside Hilton is also the juried art show. Um and so that there's kind of uh a little bit of everything right there in that area.

Speaker 2 11:12

So is any of this uh is there a fee attached with any of this, or it's just come down and enjoy?

Speaker 1 11:16

No, it's uh it's a free event. We don't have uh it's not gated or anything like that. So it's just like our summer concerts where it's it's free to attend. Um uh you can go watch any of the community stages throughout the day or the symphony performances at night, all for free. Uh make sure you grab some some local food um out on the brick plaza. And yeah, um, and then we also have um on the brick plaza where we have all of our food vendors is uh acoustic stage as well. So no matter where you're going inside the park, uh you're really gonna you're having a different experience. And so um yeah, it's it's it's really great.

Speaker 2 11:54

Uh sounds like sounds like a great time to check for a weekend to come out and enjoy something. Absolutely. Out of all of that. Yeah. Uh okay, so in addition to those two things, uh, what other events can we look forward to this summer?

Speaker 1 12:07

Yeah, one uh it's kind of a a one-off event for this year, but uh this year is the 250th uh America 250 um celebration. And so um the city is partnering with the Historic Trust and the National Park Service to host an America 250 celebration in partnership with those organizations that will be at the Fort Vancouver uh parade grounds, and that will include live music, uh games, activities. There are gonna be tours of the Marshall House, um, and then it's gonna be capped off with a movie in the park. So there's gonna be a lot going on starting at noon on July. It's gonna be on Friday, July 3rd, uh, so leading into that uh 4th of July weekend. And um, yeah, there's gonna be lots going on, and then the National Park Service is also gonna have historic weapons demonstrations. Wow. Uh it's gonna be a free, uh it's a fee-free day at um the fort itself uh between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. And so if people want to check out the Fort uh for free, it's a great opportunity to do that.

Speaker 2 13:13

I want to see so what kind of weapons are we talking about here? I want to see this myself.

Speaker 1 13:17

You know, I'm I'm curious myself. Uh the National Park Service has all that information. And so um, yeah, it's gonna be, you know, that's another example, like you anywhere you go throughout that park, there's gonna be kind of some different stuff going on. But we'll have a stage uh that has music and uh activities and kind of the parade ground area, and then the you know the Fort, and then the visitor center has its own um activation going on throughout the day, and then excellent um the following morning on on uh 4th of July morning, there's gonna be a little flag raising uh ceremony that's taking place as well. So lots going on for that America 250 weekend. We'll also have food vendors there, so uh another great opportunity to come out and and enjoy uh music and movie and um food and and all of that.

Speaker 2 14:05

Yeah, that sounds like a great time. Um uh and besides the uh arts and music festival, any other festivals taking place at Esther Short?

Speaker 1 14:16

Um Well, I I will uh take a moment to highlight the Juneteenth Freedom Celebration event that uh the city partners with Odyssey World International, who uh runs that event, and that will be taking place on Saturday, June 20th, so the day after Juneteenth. Um, and that's gonna be at Astra Short Park uh between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. And so another great opportunity to come out to Esther Short Park. It's a free uh family-friendly event, lots going on, tons of vendor booths. There's gonna be music on the stage, so another another great uh opportunity there. Um and then you know there's there's other uh Esther Short Park is always uh busy on throughout the summer, and there's a lot of uh outside permitted events that also uh will be there in the summer. Some some uh are fenced and uh paid events and and some are not. But um yeah, there's pretty busy during the summer. Yes, yeah. The events the events team is um uh packs in a lot of things within an eight-week period. So um it's is definitely uh coming right up on on that. And then um I think it's just next weekend on June 6th, uh, the Lemonade Day, which is a really cool event that the uh Vancouver Chamber puts on that has it's like a kids marketplace at Esther Short Park, and so it's kind of like an extension of the farmers market but for kids uh at short park, and that will take place on June 6th at uh Esther Short Park. So another cool free uh event that's coming right up.

Speaker 2 15:54

Okay. And uh am I mistaken though, is is the uh Hawaiian uh uh festival one of these weekends?

Speaker 1 16:02

Uh Four Days of Aloha is uh taking place in July, so it'll have its typical uh date in July. I don't know the exact date at the top of my head, but um that is uh coming up a staple in in Vancouver and definitely a popular uh event, so definitely be looking out for for uh that from uh the that organization as well.

Speaker 2 16:24

I'd I have yet to make it to it. I'm gonna try and do it this year though.

Speaker 1 16:27

It sounds like sounds like a lot of good fun and good food. It always smells so good, you know, even from you know just walking outside um uh around the Esther Short Park area, and you can smell the food and it makes you want to go into the event.

Speaker 2 16:40

Yeah, go check it out, yeah. Um tell me one thing. Uh what with all these events, uh as you said, it does stay pretty busy uh during the summer. What what's the importance of of having sponsors for this kind of these events?

Speaker 1 16:55

Yeah, I mean the sponsors are are critical. I don't know if everyone, you know, uh necessarily realizes this, but we um we rely on sponsorship to uh continue to to host these free community events and to make them free and uh family friendly to everyone. And so partners like Riverview Bank, who this is gonna be their 26th year of being a presenting sponsor. That's a long time. It used to be over at Esther Short Park, and now it's over at Columbia Tech Center that they um present the Sunday Sounds concert series.

Speaker 2 17:27

Wasn't that at one time called the Noon Concert Series?

Speaker 1 17:30

There was also the the Noon uh concert series at Esther Short Park. Um, and so yeah, they've been a vital, vital partner um and sponsor over the last 20 26 years in making some of our biggest community events happen on a continual basis. And then uh, you know, we also have uh the the Vancouver Waterfront Parking Center is actually our presenting sponsor for the waterfront series. Um and so um, you know, all all these different sponsors, we have Kaiser Permanente, who's a movie uh movies in the park presenting sponsor, and so there's there's all these uh organizations that um I think they really see the value in um what we're doing and be able to provide uh to the community and it's an opportunity for for them to um you know get involved in the community and and you know obviously with the high volume of people that uh they are able to interact with. And um, but I I will just say, yeah, it's just um we we are very fortunate to have to live in a community where there's that kind of investment into our events, um, especially because it's it's really vital for us to uh have those to keep keep uh offering these events at the level that we are.

Speaker 2 18:46

That's fantastic. Well, I think we are just about out of time. Appreciate your time. Yeah, well, uh thanks for joining me today, Erik, uh and giving us insight into what events will be happening this summer. I can't wait to check out some of these myself. Uh if you want more information about summer events in Vancouver, check out the website at cityofvancouver.us /special -events. And take some time this summer and enjoy the parks in the sun. Thanks for joining us.