Vancouver Magazine

We’re not opposed to going sober here at Vancouver magazine—at least some of the time. But since the cocktail and spirits industry is about to descend on our fair city in celebration of North America’s 50 Best Bars happening on April 22 (in case you slept and missed it, The Keefer Bar and Botanist earned spots on the list last year), there’s a bevy (get it?) of incredible and very exciting bar and cocktail collaborations happening across Vancouver in the lead up.

From April 1 to April 30, Capture Photography Festival, Western Canada’s largest curation of lens-based art, returns to Vancouver. Since its start in 2013, Capture annually unites local and international creatives through exhibitions, public art projects, tours and talks. “Vancouver has such a rich tradition of photography, and it has a lot of well known photographers living and working in the city,” says Emmy Wall, Capture Photography Festival’s Executive Director and Chief Curator.

The idea of a graveyard wedding might sound a little spooky—but Hilary Twa and Cam Jones’s union at the chic and modern Celebration Hall in Mountainview Cemetery in Vancouver felt decidedly more garden-party than goth.

Find a person a secret bottle of wine and they’ll drink well for the night; find them an entire secret region and they’ll drink well for the rest of their lives. Though we may have mangled the maxim a bit, places are lurking out there that are beloved by sommeliers and yet are under-the-radar for average drinkers. Find them, and you tap into both an amazing deal and instant respect from the wine pros. Exhibit A is Italy’s Alto Adige.

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This year’s Doxa Documentary Film Festival—happening April 30 to May 10—is here to sweep us into the stories of other cultures and its 25th anniversary lineup just dropped on April 2. “As we present films from [Palestine, Republic of Congo, Lebanon and Iran] in our program this year, it’s essential that we acknowledge these realities as part of our broader conversation about justice, memory and colonial violence,” said Doxa artistic director Sarah Ouazzani at the festival’s opening press reveal.

Happy Easter weekend, Vancouver! With Easter comes the perfect excuse to linger over a long, indulgent brunch, lunch or any other dining affair. Whether you’re in it for eggs benny, something sweet or just a good excuse to gather with your loved ones, Vancouver’s dining scene is going all out this Easter weekend. The Greek by Anatoli Leg of Lamb Family Dinner The Greek’s big Easter feast for four.

Running the influential Canadian indie label Nettwerk Music Group seems like it would be an all-consuming sort of job (the label launched the careers of Sarah McLachlan, the Barenaked Ladies and Coldplay). But co-founder Mark Jowett has managed over the past 40 years to squeeze in at least some time to record music of his own under the name Plain Mister Smith; his latest single, the rhythmic, indie-twangy “We Were Called the Foxx,” dropped in the fall.

Our favourite season at Vancouver magazine is nearly upon us—and no, we don’t just mean “spring.” Next month, our 37th annual Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards take shape and everyone (that includes you!) gets to find out which Vancouver restaurants take Gold, Silver and Bronze across 50-plus culinary categories in the city.

A zero-proof wave has hit Vancouver’s drink menus, and it’s one that doesn’t skimp on taste or imagination. Here’s just a taste of some of the city’s best zero-proof cocktails. 1. Turkish Sbagliato from Meo Meo’s just-bitter-enough Turkish sbagliato ($18) is made with rosewater and dealcoholized spirits by Sansorium, but it doesn’t take away from revelling in the joy of having a cocktail among friends in this stylish time machine of a bar (the schtick for this spot, designed by Ste.