Featured Events in Vancouver in July, 2025 (April Updated)

The Weeknd and Playboi Carti are set to electrify Vancouver with an unforgettable performance at BC Place on July 16, 2025, at 7:00 PM. This highly anticipated event promises to be a night of unparalleled musical talent, featuring The Weeknd's signature blend of R&B and pop, alongside Playboi Carti's innovative hip-hop beats. Located in the heart of Vancouver, BC Place offers a state-of-the-art venue that will enhance the concert experience for all attendees. With ticket prices starting at an accessible 50 CAD, this event is expected to draw a massive crowd, eager to witness these two powerhouse artists share the stage. Don't miss the chance to be part of this monumental evening in Vancouver's vibrant music scene.

Riopelle: Crossroads in Time is a retrospective exhibition that covers 50 years of Jean Paul Riopelle’s creative production. Organized by the National Gallery of Canada to mark the centenary celebration of Riopelle’s birth, the exhibition brings together paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints and collages by the artist. The presentation features artworks drawn from 20 private and public collections and includes a number of significant works, as well as works that have not been previously exhibited. Curated by art historian and independent researcher Sylvie Lacerte, the exhibition highlights one of the most significant Canadian artists of the twentieth century.

Written in Clay presents a history of ceramics made in British Columbia told through the collection of John David Lawrence. Featuring more than 300 objects, it examines the materials and processes artists utilized in relation to the context in which studio ceramics arose and developed in the region. The exhibition features three interconnected sections: influence and inspiration; form and function; and artist spotlights that highlight important figures whose work and legacies altered the direction of ceramic arts in BC. Celebrating 35 artists, Written in Clay establishes the mentors, interlocutors, societies and schools that made up a vast clay community in the region from the 1930s to the early 2000s. This exhibition will be accompanied by a publication.

Get ready for an unforgettable evening on July 26th aboard the M.V. ABITIBI! Join us for a spectacular dinner cruise featuring the Annual Vancouver Fireworks Show. This extraordinary night is your exclusive invitation to experience the magical combination of fine dining and an electrifying fireworks display. Revel in the unique atmosphere while taking in Vancouver's breathtaking vistas - a truly unparalleled experience. Boarding commences at 6:30 PM , allowing you ample time to settle in for our 4-hour journey, enhanced with an additional hour for boarding. We set sail promptly at 7:30 PM, promising an evening filled with unforgettable memories. Live music and DJ to keep the vibe energetic On-deck bar offering a range of premium drinks. Professional photographers to capture your magical moments. A tantalizing double-entrée buffet-style dinner, including the Admirals Fleet Dinner Menu and a dessert buffet.( Dinner Included With Ticket - See Menu Below For more info) Experience the fireworks from an incredible viewpoint as you enjoy your favorite drinks and dance to top-40 music. Please note that an adult must accompany passengers under age. Book now to secure your place for this sensational summer event! All Sales Are Final! No Refund. Follow us on Instagram: @VancouverCruises For more info: www.vancouvercruises.com / 604-681-2915 / Info@vancouvercruises.com Experience the pinnacle of summer events with our Firework Dinner Cruises! Information Source: VancouverCruises.com | eventbrite

In its exhibition design, Emily Carr: Navigating an Impenetrable Landscape draws out the question of the opening and closing-off of space in Carr’s landscapes by contrasting a densely hung group of paintings with sparsely hung later works that depict an open horizon. Ironically, many of the spatially open works are open precisely because they depict landscapes that had been recently subject to clear-cut logging. This exhibition uses the spatial metaphor of closeness to and distance from nature to probe Carr’s thinking about the forests she painted. It will also examine how Carr’s representation of some Indigenous subjects—particularly villages and totem poles set within landscapes—sit in relation to the dense forest and what this might suggest, given the late 19th- and early 20th-century tendency to conflate Indigenous cultures with nature.

In its exhibition design, Emily Carr: Navigating an Impenetrable Landscape draws out the question of the opening and closing-off of space in Carr’s landscapes by contrasting a densely hung group of paintings with sparsely hung later works that depict an open horizon. Ironically, many of the spatially open works are open precisely because they depict landscapes that had been recently subject to clear-cut logging. This exhibition uses the spatial metaphor of closeness to and distance from nature to probe Carr’s thinking about the forests she painted. It will also examine how Carr’s representation of some Indigenous subjects—particularly villages and totem poles set within landscapes—sit in relation to the dense forest and what this might suggest, given the late 19th- and early 20th-century tendency to conflate Indigenous cultures with nature.

Riopelle: Crossroads in Time is a retrospective exhibition that covers 50 years of Jean Paul Riopelle’s creative production. Organized by the National Gallery of Canada to mark the centenary celebration of Riopelle’s birth, the exhibition brings together paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints and collages by the artist. The presentation features artworks drawn from 20 private and public collections and includes a number of significant works, as well as works that have not been previously exhibited. Curated by art historian and independent researcher Sylvie Lacerte, the exhibition highlights one of the most significant Canadian artists of the twentieth century.

Riopelle: Crossroads in Time is a retrospective exhibition that covers 50 years of Jean Paul Riopelle’s creative production. Organized by the National Gallery of Canada to mark the centenary celebration of Riopelle’s birth, the exhibition brings together paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints and collages by the artist. The presentation features artworks drawn from 20 private and public collections and includes a number of significant works, as well as works that have not been previously exhibited. Curated by art historian and independent researcher Sylvie Lacerte, the exhibition highlights one of the most significant Canadian artists of the twentieth century.

Postcards from the Heart: Selections from the Brigitte and Henning Freybe Collectioncelebrates the Freybes’ contributions as patrons of the arts, collectors and longtime supporters of the Vancouver Art Gallery.Comprising a selection ofmore than 30 paintings, sculptures, photographs, films and works on paper,Postcards from the Heartis a tribute to the couple’s deep engagement with modern and contemporary art andreflects the depth of the Freybes’ collecting with works from the 1960s to today. Over the last four decades, the Freybes’ collection has grown to include some of the most important artists working in the last fifty years, including post-war American artists Robert Rauschenberg and Frank Stella; leading contemporary artists Julie Mehretu and William Kentridge; and work by major Canadian artists Rodney Graham and Jeff Wall. While the Freybe collection is diverse and wide-ranging, at its core, it honours the creativity and knowledge that artists produce.

Lucy Raven: Murderers Bar is the first major presentation of work by multidisciplinary artist Lucy Raven in Vancouver and the artist’s largest exhibition in Canada to date. Based in New York, Raven (b. 1977) works in installation, photography, video, drawing and sculpture to examine historic and contemporary representations and narratives of the American West. The exhibition takes its name from Raven’s newest work Murderers Bar (2025), the third installment in a series of moving-image installations and related works called The Drumfire. Co-commissioned by the Vancouver Art Gallery and The Vega Foundation, it features an ensemble of sculptural elements and a video, projected vertically on a tall, free-standing aluminum structure in the gallery space. Created between 2023 and 2025, the video centres around the recent removal of a century-old, concrete gravity dam along the Klamath River in Northern California—the biggest dam removal project in American history. The exhibition also presents previous and related works—including a selection from Raven’s series Depositions (2024) and Casters X-2 + X-3 (2021)—that provide further context to her practice and a broader appreciation of her ongoing investigations and visual language. The arc of these works reveals the intermingling of nature and technology; the frequent interrelation of military and entertainment applications; and the impact of these forces on lived experience. Together, the works in this exhibition provide a timely glimpse into the expanding field of Raven’s vision—the push and pull between human intervention and the more-than-human forces of nature and the physical world. The exhibition explores objectivity, subjectivity and perception, from individual and discrete elements of history, technology and the popular imagination to the broader sweep of geological and physical forces that define experience over millennia. This exhibition is part of the 2025 Capture Photography Festival Featured Exhibitions Program. Murderers Bar is co-commissioned and jointly acquired by the Vancouver Art Gallery and The Vega Foundation.

Lucy Raven: Murderers Bar is the first major presentation of work by multidisciplinary artist Lucy Raven in Vancouver and the artist’s largest exhibition in Canada to date. Based in New York, Raven (b. 1977) works in installation, photography, video, drawing and sculpture to examine historic and contemporary representations and narratives of the American West. The exhibition takes its name from Raven’s newest work Murderers Bar (2025), the third installment in a series of moving-image installations and related works called The Drumfire. Co-commissioned by the Vancouver Art Gallery and The Vega Foundation, it features an ensemble of sculptural elements and a video, projected vertically on a tall, free-standing aluminum structure in the gallery space. Created between 2023 and 2025, the video centres around the recent removal of a century-old, concrete gravity dam along the Klamath River in Northern California—the biggest dam removal project in American history. The exhibition also presents previous and related works—including a selection from Raven’s series Depositions (2024) and Casters X-2 + X-3 (2021)—that provide further context to her practice and a broader appreciation of her ongoing investigations and visual language. The arc of these works reveals the intermingling of nature and technology; the frequent interrelation of military and entertainment applications; and the impact of these forces on lived experience. Together, the works in this exhibition provide a timely glimpse into the expanding field of Raven’s vision—the push and pull between human intervention and the more-than-human forces of nature and the physical world. The exhibition explores objectivity, subjectivity and perception, from individual and discrete elements of history, technology and the popular imagination to the broader sweep of geological and physical forces that define experience over millennia. This exhibition is part of the 2025 Capture Photography Festival Featured Exhibitions Program. Murderers Bar is co-commissioned and jointly acquired by the Vancouver Art Gallery and The Vega Foundation.

Lucy Raven: Murderers Bar is the first major presentation of work by multidisciplinary artist Lucy Raven in Vancouver and the artist’s largest exhibition in Canada to date. Based in New York, Raven (b. 1977) works in installation, photography, video, drawing and sculpture to examine historic and contemporary representations and narratives of the American West. The exhibition takes its name from Raven’s newest work Murderers Bar (2025), the third installment in a series of moving-image installations and related works called The Drumfire. Co-commissioned by the Vancouver Art Gallery and The Vega Foundation, it features an ensemble of sculptural elements and a video, projected vertically on a tall, free-standing aluminum structure in the gallery space. Created between 2023 and 2025, the video centres around the recent removal of a century-old, concrete gravity dam along the Klamath River in Northern California—the biggest dam removal project in American history. The exhibition also presents previous and related works—including a selection from Raven’s series Depositions (2024) and Casters X-2 + X-3 (2021)—that provide further context to her practice and a broader appreciation of her ongoing investigations and visual language. The arc of these works reveals the intermingling of nature and technology; the frequent interrelation of military and entertainment applications; and the impact of these forces on lived experience. Together, the works in this exhibition provide a timely glimpse into the expanding field of Raven’s vision—the push and pull between human intervention and the more-than-human forces of nature and the physical world. The exhibition explores objectivity, subjectivity and perception, from individual and discrete elements of history, technology and the popular imagination to the broader sweep of geological and physical forces that define experience over millennia. This exhibition is part of the 2025 Capture Photography Festival Featured Exhibitions Program. Murderers Bar is co-commissioned and jointly acquired by the Vancouver Art Gallery and The Vega Foundation.

Lucy Raven: Murderers Bar is the first major presentation of work by multidisciplinary artist Lucy Raven in Vancouver and the artist’s largest exhibition in Canada to date. Based in New York, Raven (b. 1977) works in installation, photography, video, drawing and sculpture to examine historic and contemporary representations and narratives of the American West. The exhibition takes its name from Raven’s newest work Murderers Bar (2025), the third installment in a series of moving-image installations and related works called The Drumfire. Co-commissioned by the Vancouver Art Gallery and The Vega Foundation, it features an ensemble of sculptural elements and a video, projected vertically on a tall, free-standing aluminum structure in the gallery space. Created between 2023 and 2025, the video centres around the recent removal of a century-old, concrete gravity dam along the Klamath River in Northern California—the biggest dam removal project in American history. The exhibition also presents previous and related works—including a selection from Raven’s series Depositions (2024) and Casters X-2 + X-3 (2021)—that provide further context to her practice and a broader appreciation of her ongoing investigations and visual language. The arc of these works reveals the intermingling of nature and technology; the frequent interrelation of military and entertainment applications; and the impact of these forces on lived experience. Together, the works in this exhibition provide a timely glimpse into the expanding field of Raven’s vision—the push and pull between human intervention and the more-than-human forces of nature and the physical world. The exhibition explores objectivity, subjectivity and perception, from individual and discrete elements of history, technology and the popular imagination to the broader sweep of geological and physical forces that define experience over millennia. This exhibition is part of the 2025 Capture Photography Festival Featured Exhibitions Program. Murderers Bar is co-commissioned and jointly acquired by the Vancouver Art Gallery and The Vega Foundation.

Otani Workshop: Monsters in My Head is Otani’s first solo presentation in North America. Featuring new paintings inspired by his personal memories, alongside hand-built figurative and abstract ceramic sculptures in varying scales, the exhibition will be a compelling introduction to the artist’s practice. The immersive exhibition design will situate ceramic works produced during Otani’s stay at the Deer Lake Artist Residency within a labyrinth-like installation fabricated from natural materials foraged from local public parks and forested areas.

Otani Workshop: Monsters in My Head is Otani’s first solo presentation in North America. Featuring new paintings inspired by his personal memories, alongside hand-built figurative and abstract ceramic sculptures in varying scales, the exhibition will be a compelling introduction to the artist’s practice. The immersive exhibition design will situate ceramic works produced during Otani’s stay at the Deer Lake Artist Residency within a labyrinth-like installation fabricated from natural materials foraged from local public parks and forested areas.

Written in Clay presents a history of ceramics made in British Columbia told through the collection of John David Lawrence. Featuring more than 300 objects, it examines the materials and processes artists utilized in relation to the context in which studio ceramics arose and developed in the region. The exhibition features three interconnected sections: influence and inspiration; form and function; and artist spotlights that highlight important figures whose work and legacies altered the direction of ceramic arts in BC. Celebrating 35 artists, Written in Clay establishes the mentors, interlocutors, societies and schools that made up a vast clay community in the region from the 1930s to the early 2000s. This exhibition will be accompanied by a publication.

Otani Workshop: Monsters in My Head is Otani’s first solo presentation in North America. Featuring new paintings inspired by his personal memories, alongside hand-built figurative and abstract ceramic sculptures in varying scales, the exhibition will be a compelling introduction to the artist’s practice. The immersive exhibition design will situate ceramic works produced during Otani’s stay at the Deer Lake Artist Residency within a labyrinth-like installation fabricated from natural materials foraged from local public parks and forested areas.

Written in Clay presents a history of ceramics made in British Columbia told through the collection of John David Lawrence. Featuring more than 300 objects, it examines the materials and processes artists utilized in relation to the context in which studio ceramics arose and developed in the region. The exhibition features three interconnected sections: influence and inspiration; form and function; and artist spotlights that highlight important figures whose work and legacies altered the direction of ceramic arts in BC. Celebrating 35 artists, Written in Clay establishes the mentors, interlocutors, societies and schools that made up a vast clay community in the region from the 1930s to the early 2000s. This exhibition will be accompanied by a publication.

Otani Workshop: Monsters in My Head is Otani’s first solo presentation in North America. Featuring new paintings inspired by his personal memories, alongside hand-built figurative and abstract ceramic sculptures in varying scales, the exhibition will be a compelling introduction to the artist’s practice. The immersive exhibition design will situate ceramic works produced during Otani’s stay at the Deer Lake Artist Residency within a labyrinth-like installation fabricated from natural materials foraged from local public parks and forested areas.

Score Your 2025 Vancouver Open Early Bird VIP Tickets Now! Be part of the action at Kitsilano Beach with Volleyball BC's exclusive Early Bird VIP tickets for the 2025 Vancouver Open. Enjoy 3 days of premium access to this thrilling volleyball tournament and secure your spot before they're gone. Don’t wait—experience top-level volleyball like never before. Get your VIP tickets today! Information Source: Volleyball BC | eventbrite

Internationally recognized artist Hank Willis Thomas works across several disciplines and mediums and has recently created large-scale sculptures and monuments for the public realm. This installation at Offsite will be the first time three of Thomas’ polished stainless-steel sculptures will be exhibited together. In his wide-ranging conceptual art practice, Thomas explores how contemporary society commodifies race and gender. His works—which span photography, sculpture, installation and more—often reflect on mass media representations and social justice. Originally trained as a photographer, he is interested in how popular imagery from advertisements, mass media and visual media inform cultural attitudes. In using images featuring Black men that circulate widely in popular culture (from Nike ads to political campaign images), the artist encourages the viewer to question commercial representations and cultural stereotypes. Thomas has increasingly made work for the public realm, creating large-scale outdoor sculptures and monuments. His public sculptures often feature an isolated gesture from a photograph or circulated image, bringing a sense of intimacy to the public sphere. Thomas’ sculptures feature disembodied hand gestures that evoke gestures of protest, care and exaltation. These works will take on particular resonance at Offsite, where they will be installed adjacent to the public route of protests and political marches in the city. At a time when the roles and relevance of public monuments are being debated, Thomas is creating new monuments for our era.

Internationally recognized artist Hank Willis Thomas works across several disciplines and mediums and has recently created large-scale sculptures and monuments for the public realm. This installation at Offsite will be the first time three of Thomas’ polished stainless-steel sculptures will be exhibited together. In his wide-ranging conceptual art practice, Thomas explores how contemporary society commodifies race and gender. His works—which span photography, sculpture, installation and more—often reflect on mass media representations and social justice. Originally trained as a photographer, he is interested in how popular imagery from advertisements, mass media and visual media inform cultural attitudes. In using images featuring Black men that circulate widely in popular culture (from Nike ads to political campaign images), the artist encourages the viewer to question commercial representations and cultural stereotypes. Thomas has increasingly made work for the public realm, creating large-scale outdoor sculptures and monuments. His public sculptures often feature an isolated gesture from a photograph or circulated image, bringing a sense of intimacy to the public sphere. Thomas’ sculptures feature disembodied hand gestures that evoke gestures of protest, care and exaltation. These works will take on particular resonance at Offsite, where they will be installed adjacent to the public route of protests and political marches in the city. At a time when the roles and relevance of public monuments are being debated, Thomas is creating new monuments for our era.

Internationally recognized artist Hank Willis Thomas works across several disciplines and mediums and has recently created large-scale sculptures and monuments for the public realm. This installation at Offsite will be the first time three of Thomas’ polished stainless-steel sculptures will be exhibited together. In his wide-ranging conceptual art practice, Thomas explores how contemporary society commodifies race and gender. His works—which span photography, sculpture, installation and more—often reflect on mass media representations and social justice. Originally trained as a photographer, he is interested in how popular imagery from advertisements, mass media and visual media inform cultural attitudes. In using images featuring Black men that circulate widely in popular culture (from Nike ads to political campaign images), the artist encourages the viewer to question commercial representations and cultural stereotypes. Thomas has increasingly made work for the public realm, creating large-scale outdoor sculptures and monuments. His public sculptures often feature an isolated gesture from a photograph or circulated image, bringing a sense of intimacy to the public sphere. Thomas’ sculptures feature disembodied hand gestures that evoke gestures of protest, care and exaltation. These works will take on particular resonance at Offsite, where they will be installed adjacent to the public route of protests and political marches in the city. At a time when the roles and relevance of public monuments are being debated, Thomas is creating new monuments for our era.

In its exhibition design, Emily Carr: Navigating an Impenetrable Landscape draws out the question of the opening and closing-off of space in Carr’s landscapes by contrasting a densely hung group of paintings with sparsely hung later works that depict an open horizon. Ironically, many of the spatially open works are open precisely because they depict landscapes that had been recently subject to clear-cut logging. This exhibition uses the spatial metaphor of closeness to and distance from nature to probe Carr’s thinking about the forests she painted. It will also examine how Carr’s representation of some Indigenous subjects—particularly villages and totem poles set within landscapes—sit in relation to the dense forest and what this might suggest, given the late 19th- and early 20th-century tendency to conflate Indigenous cultures with nature.

In its exhibition design, Emily Carr: Navigating an Impenetrable Landscape draws out the question of the opening and closing-off of space in Carr’s landscapes by contrasting a densely hung group of paintings with sparsely hung later works that depict an open horizon. Ironically, many of the spatially open works are open precisely because they depict landscapes that had been recently subject to clear-cut logging. This exhibition uses the spatial metaphor of closeness to and distance from nature to probe Carr’s thinking about the forests she painted. It will also examine how Carr’s representation of some Indigenous subjects—particularly villages and totem poles set within landscapes—sit in relation to the dense forest and what this might suggest, given the late 19th- and early 20th-century tendency to conflate Indigenous cultures with nature.

In its exhibition design, Emily Carr: Navigating an Impenetrable Landscape draws out the question of the opening and closing-off of space in Carr’s landscapes by contrasting a densely hung group of paintings with sparsely hung later works that depict an open horizon. Ironically, many of the spatially open works are open precisely because they depict landscapes that had been recently subject to clear-cut logging. This exhibition uses the spatial metaphor of closeness to and distance from nature to probe Carr’s thinking about the forests she painted. It will also examine how Carr’s representation of some Indigenous subjects—particularly villages and totem poles set within landscapes—sit in relation to the dense forest and what this might suggest, given the late 19th- and early 20th-century tendency to conflate Indigenous cultures with nature.

In its exhibition design, Emily Carr: Navigating an Impenetrable Landscape draws out the question of the opening and closing-off of space in Carr’s landscapes by contrasting a densely hung group of paintings with sparsely hung later works that depict an open horizon. Ironically, many of the spatially open works are open precisely because they depict landscapes that had been recently subject to clear-cut logging. This exhibition uses the spatial metaphor of closeness to and distance from nature to probe Carr’s thinking about the forests she painted. It will also examine how Carr’s representation of some Indigenous subjects—particularly villages and totem poles set within landscapes—sit in relation to the dense forest and what this might suggest, given the late 19th- and early 20th-century tendency to conflate Indigenous cultures with nature.