Stir is a digital media organization dedicated to covering Vancouver’s arts and culture scene through independent journalism.

Welcome to Stir.

Stir is a digital magazine that puts Vancouver and the surrounding area’s arts and culture at centre stage. We're devoting an entire platform to independent arts journalism and to telling the creative scene’s compelling stories —stories that we’re excited to share.

Join us, and let's create a stir.

MEET OUR PARTNERS

SPRING GUIDE

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

Diwali Fest lights up Metro Vancouver, October 16, 20, 21, and 23

Events in Vancouver and Surrey feature live dance and music, rangolis, lighting of diyas, and more

By Gail johnson

DIWALI IS THE brightest and biggest event on the Indian calendar, a global celebration that encompasses dance, music, and storytelling; fireworks; gifts of sweets; rangolis (traditional floor patterns made of coloured sand or powder); and the lighting of diyas (small clay oil lamps).

Diwali means “row of lighted lamps”, and the light symbolizes the triumph of good over evil, prosperity over poverty, and knowledge over ignorance.

The Diwali Celebration Society describes the festival as one that strives to break cultural barriers, bring communities together, and promote inclusivenes. It also aims to foster intercultural understanding “by exploring how traditional South Asian arts evolve into fusion forms in the context of new countries and contemporary values”.

The 2022 edition is made up of several multidisciplinary happenings.

Diwali Downtown Surrey takes place at Surrey City Hall on October 16 at 2 pm, with live performances and kids’ activities.

Diwali Stories with Vancouver Public Library is an online event on October 20 at 1:30 pm. Author Mithali Banerjee Ruths will do a live reading of her book Archie Celebrates Diwali.

On October 21 at 5:30 pm, Diwali @Vancouver Public Library kicks off at 5:30 pm, with music and dance performances, diya painting, and chai.

Finally, Diwali Downtown Vancouver happens on October 23 at 2 pm at the Roundhouse Community Centre. There will be an interactive rangoli installation, family-friendly activities, food trucks, a Diwali market, henna designs, and live dance and music.

For more infroatmoin, see Diwali Fest.

Articles

Russian pianist Mikhail Voskresensky is a rebel with a cause

A guest of the Vancouver Chopin Society, the veteran musician risked it all to stand up against tyranny

Tremors Festival artists crack open the mystery of dreams, both conscious and unconscious

Howard Dai’s Dream Machine pulls inspiration from Taiwanese game shows, while Paige Louter’s Nod acknowledges chronic fatigue

Stir Q&A: Srutika Sabu embodies a South Asian uncle in drag-king clown show at the rEvolver Festival

1 Santosh Santosh 2 Go touches on the model minority myth with hilarity and heart

More than 60 artists to perform on West 4th Avenue as Khatsahlano Street Party announces 2025 lineup

Alt-rock band Meltt, D.O.A. frontman Joe Keithley, and singer-songwriter Ché Aimee Dorval are among the Burrard Stage highlights

Mary Ancheta’s MAQkestra performs the music of Betty Davis at BlueShore at CapU, June 21

Stellar local musicians play seminal, sassy funk in North Shore Jazz presentation as part of Vancouver International Jazz Festival

Toby Thompson's poetry takes jazz-infused solo at the Vancouver International Children’s Festival

In renowned one-man show I Wish I Was a Mountain, the award-winning British poet leans on rhythm of deep musical influences

BMO Day of Music fills the city with 70 free concerts all day long, May 24

Wurlitzer organ, Azerbaijani folk music, rousing chorales, and more culminate in a Vancouver Symphony Orchestra performance at the Orpheum

Legendary songs move from screen to stage to create A Whole New World

Newest production to feature Sound the Alarm’s lineup of seasoned singers mines soundtracks of Disney and Hollywood classics

Emerging artists shine onstage at this year's Cascade Peaks ChamberFest, June 20 to 22

Three concerts at RockRidge Canyon resort in Princeton highlight chamber works prepared by the artists during a week-long intensive

Club Origami's folded paper allows kids' imaginations to flourish at Vancouver International Children’s Festival

Presented with Boca del Lupo, the accessible production by the U.K.’s Seven Circles encourages interactive learning

Theatre review: Here We Go's fleeting glimpses of mortality are quietly unsettling

In Western Gold Theatre’s spare staging of Caryl Churchill’s taut, wry work, roles rotate across performances with some astonishing results

Kicking off Tremors Festival, Erin James infuses music with her passion for fashion

The violinist’s Fantasy Vignettes interweaves Baroque music, costume changes, and sewing machines

Bard on the Beach presents The Two Gentlemen of Verona, June 13 to September 19

On the BMO Mainstage, director Dean Paul Gibson puts an ’80s spin on this resonant tale of young love

Elektra honours outgoing artistic director Morna Edmundson’s ability to “lead with love”

All-Canadian program Legacy celebrates spring and rebirth as Cassie Luftspring prepares to take the baton

Queer Arts Festival steps into the future with 18th annual edition, June 6 to 28

Centred around portals, this year’s just-announced lineup includes several visual-art exhibitions, Vancouver International Jazz Festival concerts, and more

Vancouver Short Film Festival unveils lineup for 15th annual edition, June 13 to 15

HATCH, Clementine, One Day This Kid, and Beyond the Salish are among the 47 Canadian shorts screening this year

Tanzanian percussion and indie icons as Vancouver Folk Music Festival unveils 2025 lineup, July 18 to 20

The Zawose Queens, The Milk Cartons Kids, and more to hit the Main Stage at ʔəy̓alməxʷ Jericho Beach Park

At the rEvolver Festival, playwright Sarvin Esmaeili gives femme body hair a voice

In Hair Hair Everywhere, Shabnam debates whether or not she should shave

Otto Tausk leads the VSO and guest soloists in Beethoven’s Ninth: “Ode to Joy”, June 6 and 7

Program also features North American premiere of Danish composer Thomas Agerfeldt Olesen’s Violin Concerto with violinist Simone Lamsma

Dancing on the Edge unveils program full of local works by the likes of MascallDance and Ziyian Kwan, June 12 to 21

Moroccan and Spanish choreographers join the international contingent of event that runs at Firehall Arts Centre and SFU Woodward’s

Vancouver Chamber Choir sings Sonnets by the Sea, June 6

Season-closing concert features guest artist Christopher Gaze and a world premiere by composer Thuthuka Sibisi

Much Ado About Nothing hits the BMO Mainstage at Bard on the Beach, June 10 to September 20

All is not as it seems as two of Shakespeare’s most tumultuous couples navigate secret love and mistaken identities

Vancouver Chopin Society hosts famed Russian pianist Mikhail Voskresensky, May 30

Now based in the U.S., artist brings more than 60 years of performance experience and award wins to the stage

Vancouver Bach Family of Choirs closes its season with SummerSing!, May 13

Beatles songs and Broadway hits are on the program featuring performers of all ages

With the VSO’s Coastal Soundscapes, Naomi Woo brings a study in contrasts to the Annex

In the latest installment of the VSO at the Annex series, the conductor and pianist hopes the eclectic program will take some of the intimidation factor out of new music