Welcome to The Playground, a place for Vancouver parents and their awesome kids. Every Wednesday I post a roundup of upcoming family-friendly events and activities. I’m always on the lookout for fun stuff to do, so if there’s something happening that you think I should know about, contact me at theplayground@vancouverisawesome.com. Because Vancouver is awesome for kids too!

In the Playground Week 12: The Powell Street Festival, parades for pirates and Pride, Taiwanese puppetry and more. Read on for details!

Did you make it out to Pacific Spirit Regional Park for Forest Symphony last week? These were two of the many classical performers that filled the park with music Friday evening. We took our three year-old and saw lots of other families out enjoying themselves. Cassandra thought there should be more dancing but she did collect several nice sticks and was quite pleased by the excellent turnout of friendly dogs. A beautiful event, thank you Metro Vancouver!

Here are some fun things to do with the kids this week:

Any day this summer you can head to Klahowya Village at Stanley Park. The Aboriginal Summer Village is free to visit and there is plenty to experience, including dance performances, working artisans, a cultural tour, Aboriginal crafts and cuisine. For more information, click HERE.

Thursday, July 29

It’s the last week of the West End BIA’s “Dinner and a Movie” at Ceperley Meadow in Stanley Park. This week’s offering is the original Karate Kid. Movie starts at dusk (approximately 9:30pm).

Friday, July 30

Carousel Theatre presents free performances of The Taming of the Shrew! The theatre’s Teen Shakespeare Program will be performing The Taming of the Shrew at Performance Works Outdoor Stage on Granville Island, July 30 to August 14. Get details on show times HERE.

The Harmony Arts Festival in West Vancouver kicks off on Friday and runs until August 8. All kinds of fun happening along the waterfront including arts and crafts, musical performances and cinema, and it’s all free. There are lots of great events for kids including Bobs and Lolo (August 4) and Chris Hamilton (August 5). Check out the schedule HERE.

Saturday, July 31

The Powell Street Festival is on at Oppenheimer Park Saturday and Sunday. The annual celebration of Japanese Canadian culture has something for everyone, and this year’s festival theme is especially appropriate for families:

Taking inspiration from the Japanese notion of Koen debut, or Park debut, whereupon neighbourhood toddlers are introduced to their local community, the 34th Annual Powell Street Festival celebrates the idea of neighbourhood, youth, children, the park and its landscape.

Besides dance, music, film and video, visual arts, martial arts demos, an amateur sumo tournament, and craft and food vendors, there will be a Children’s Tent with some great activities — origami, tug-of-war, a Kiai contest (who can make the loudest NOISE!), mask and hat making, and a game called Suika Wari which involves putting on a blindfold and hitting a watermelon with a stick. (Uh, you might want to bring a change of clothes for that one.) You can find more information on the Powell Street Festival HERE.

Any pirate fans in the family? The Spirit of the Sea Festival is this weekend in White Rock, and there’s a Children’s Pirate Parade on Saturday at 10am followed by a Children’s Pirate Carnival all day at Semiahmoo Park. For more info on these and other Festival events, click HERE.

The new Aquatic Centre at Hillcrest Centre opens Saturday at 10am. The outdoor pool looks awesome, looking forward to our first swim!

And, of course, the Celebration of Light wraps up Saturday night with A Tribute to China.

Sunday, August 1

The Vancouver Pride Parade is this Sunday starting at noon. I can’t wait to take Cass — all those rainbows, I think she’s going to love it! Check out the parade route HERE.

Monday, August 2

Finally, here’s something a little different. The UBC Museum of Anthropology presents “A Sea of Puppets”, a traditional Taiwanese puppet show:

“A Sea of Puppets” has been performed in over 30 countries. Join us for a glimpse of one of the most extraordinary theatre traditions in the world, and enjoy the sheer virtuosity of the Taiwanese puppet performance accompanied by traditional music. The show is without words and suitable for an audience of all ages.

That’s Monday at 2:30pm. For more info, click HERE.

That’s all for this week. See you next Wednesday!