Heart of the City Festival 2023

the 20th Festival; the 20th Anniversary of the 2003 Downtown Eastside Community Play, which led to the founding of the Festival; and the 40th Anniversary of Vancouver Moving Theatre, lead producers of the Festival.

For twenty years, the Heart of the City Festival has been grounded in the Downtown Eastside and focused on listening and learning from the cultural practices of the community. The Festival works with, for and about the Downtown Eastside community to carry forward our community’s stories, ancestral memory, cultural traditions, lived experiences, and artistic processes to illuminate pathways of resistance and resilience.

Most Festival events are free of charge, although some require pre-registration. For these, and for paid events, you are register through EventBrite.

Festival 2023 Schedule at a Glance
To find out more information on a specific event, visit the Festival Schedule and click on the date(s) for the show you're interested in.

Wednesday October 25
1pm-4pm
Festival Opening Ceremony
Carnegie Theatre

5:30pm-6:30pm
Tour of Historic Building
St James' Anglican Church

6pm-7:30pm
Salish Drumming Workshop
Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre

7pm-8:30pm
Open Rehearsal Vancouver Cantata Singers
St James' Anglican Church

7pm-9pm
DTES Front & Centre: Celebrating 20 Years!
Carnegie Theatre

Thursday October 26

1pm & 2pm
Hastings Street Band
InterUrban Gallery

1pm-3pm
DTES Writers Collective
Carnegie 3rd Floor Gallery

1pm-3pm
Day of the Dead Decorations Workshop
Carnegie Learning Centre

1pm-3pm
Art of Decorating Workshop
Evelyne Saller Centre

6pm-8pm
Leanne Simpson: Listening in Our Present Moment
Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre

6pm-8pm
Death Cafe
THIS Gallery

6pm-9pm
Gina Bastone Spaghetti Dinner (bring your own utensils!)
InterUrban Gallery

7:30pm-9:30pm
IRONWORKS IV: The Homeless Project
Carnegie Theatre

8pm-9:30pm
Concurrence Gathering #9
8EAST

9pm-11pm
Arts Rational
Co-op Radio CFRO 100.5 FM

Friday October 27

10am-3:30pm
Making Music
Carnegie Theatre

1pm-3pm
Spontaneous Street Poetry
Carnegie outdoor sidewalk

2pm-4:30pm
Knitting Circle Workshop
VJLS & JH

3pm-4:30pm
Art in the Park Artist Talk
Carnegie 3rd Floor Gallery

4pm-7pm
Gathering of Song and Dance
InterUrban Gallery

5pm-7pm
Open House at LOBE Studio
Lobe Spatial Sound Studio

4pm-8:30pm
Somewhere exhibit
RayCam Cooperative Centre

7pm-8:30pm
Raycam Live!
RayCam Cooperative Centre

7pm-10pm
Famous Last Words
Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre

7pm-10pm
Battle of Ballantyne Pier
Maritime Labour Centre

7:30pm-9pm
IRONFEST IV: Beatings are in the Body
The Ironworks

9:30pm-11pm
IRONFEST IV: Oceans And: Tim Berne, Aurroa Nealand, & Hank Roberts
The Ironworks

Saturday October 28

12pm-5pm
Art Market in the Atrium
Woodward's Atrium

1pm-3pm
Spontaneous Street Poetry
Carnegie outdoor sidewalk

1pm-5pm
Forever is Composed of Nows
THIS Gallery

1:30pm-3:00pm
The Awakening Workshop
KW Production Studio

3pm-5:30pm
Robyn's Nest
InterUrban Gallery

4pm-7pm
Hearts Beat 2023
Carnegie Theatre

7pm-10pm
Battle of Ballantyne Pier
Maritime Labour Centre

7:30pm-9pm
IRONFEST IV: Josh Cole's Kind Mind
The Ironworks

9:30pm-11pm
IRONFEST IV: Craig Taborn
The Ironworks

Sunday October 29

10am & 1pm
Two Amigos Walking Tour
Register for location

11am-12:30pm
Cultural Tributaries Building Tour
Lim Sai Hor Kow Mock Benevolent Association Building

11am-12:30pm
Learning Both Ways
Carnegie Theatre

12pm-12:30pm
Don't Feed 'da Pigeons
Woodward's Atrium

12pm-1pm
Introduction to Pipe Organ & Bldg Tour
St James' Anglican Church

12pm-5pm
Art Market in the Atrium
Woodward's Atrium

1pm-3pm
Spontaneous Street Poetry
Carnegie outdoor sidewalk

2pm-3pm
Accordion Crimes
InterUrban Gallery

2pm-3:30pm
Funny Side Up: Stand Up for Mental Health
Carnegie Theatre

3pm-4pm
Exhibition Tour, Bright Futures
Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art

3:30pm-5pm
Hate Can Kill
InterUrban Gallery

4pm-5pm
Evil Cult Singalong with the Legion of Flying Monkeys
MacLean Park Fieldhouse

7pm-8:30pm
Insite 20: Then & Now
Online

7pm-9pm
Your Style, Your Story, Your Community
Carnegie Theatre

Monday October 30

3pm-5:30pm
Robyn's Nest
InterUrban Gallery

5:30pm-6:30pm
Saint James Music Academy Open House
St James' Church Hall

6pm-8pm
Open Creative Making Space
InterUrban Gallery

7pm-9pm
Forbidden Literature
neca?mat ct Strathcona Branch

Tuesday October 31

11am-1pm
Seniors Storytelling
RayCam Cooperative Centre

12pm-2pm
Big Drum on the Patio
Carnegie - Patio

1pm-4pm
Meet & Greet the Artists
Downtown Community Health Centre

3pm-5:30pm
Robyn's Nest
InterUrban Gallery

6pm-8pm
Open Creative Making Space
InterUrban Gallery

7pm-8:30pm
Gospel According to Townes Van Zandt & A Story of Chemukh
Carnegie Theatre

Wednesday November 1

10am-3pm
Heart of the City Festival Snooker Tournament
Carnegie Pool Room

11am & 1pm
Paper Trail, Exhibition Tour
Chinese Canadian Museum

1pm-3pm
Day of the Dead Decorations Workshop
Carnegie Learning Centre

2pm-3pm
Sandy Cameron Memorial Writing Contest Award Ceremony
Carnegie Theatre

3:30pm-4:30pm
Solidarity Notes Labour Choir
Carnegie Theatre

4pm-5:30pm
COMMUNITY OF WORK Opening Reception
Carnegie 3rd Floor Gallery

6pm-8pm
Graffiti Digital Art Wall
InterUrban Gallery

6:30pm-8:30pm
Yinpin Native Chinese Orchestra
Carnegie Theatre

7pm-8:30pm
VANDU: Over 25 Years of Resistance and Resilience
312 Main

8pm-9:30pm
We Live Here II
Keefer & Columbia, NE corner

11pm-1am
Red Jam Slam at Late Night with Savages
Brandiz Bar & Co-op Radio CFRO 100.5 FM

Thursday November 2

10am-12pm
Strathcona Sings! Indoor Edition
RayCam Cooperative Centre

10am-3pm
9th Symposium on Reconciliation and Redress in the Arts
Creekside Community Recreation Centre

12pm-4pm
Day of the Dead Community Altar
Listening Post

1pm-3pm
Day of the Dead Community Ofrenda
Carnegie Learning Centre

2pm-2:15pm
Bells of St James'
St James' Anglican Church

2pm-3pm
Day of the Dead/Dia de muertos Procession
Meet at Watari Counselling & Support Services

3pm-6pm
Day of the Dead/Dia de muertos Fiesta
320 Alexander

4pm-7:30pm
Art Sale + Graffiti Digital Wall
InterUrban Gallery

5pm-6pm
Kla How Ya
Co-op Radio CFRO 100.5 FM

6:30pm
Requiem for All Souls'
St James' Anglican Church

7:30pm-9pm
Etuaptmumk/Two-Eyed Seeing
Firehall Arts Centre

8pm-9:30pm
We Live Here II
Keefer & Columbia, NE corner

9pm-11pm
Arts Rational
Co-op Radio CFRO 100.5 FM

Friday November 3

11am-5pm
Open House
Vancouver Police Museum

1pm & 2pm
Hastings Street Band
InterUrban Gallery

1pm-4pm
Reweaving our Words
Trillium North Park

2pm-4pm
An Ear for Dialogue Writers Workshop
Carnegie Learning Centre

2pm-4:30pm
Knitting Circle Workshop
VJLS & JH

2pm-5pm
Gallery Drop-In
Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art

3pm-5:30pm
Robyn's Nest
InterUrban Gallery

5pm-7:30pm
Music For Fun and Healing
Listening Post

6pm-7pm
From the Video Archives of Sid Chow Tan
Carnegie Theatre

7pm-11pm
Zabava Community Dance
Ukrainian Hall

7:30pm-9pm
Etuaptmumk/Two-Eyed Seeing
Firehall Arts Centre

7:30pm-9:30pm
Big Fight in Little Chinatown
Carnegie Theatre

7:30pm-9:30pm
Once Upon a Time on a Chinatown Night
Stretch Vancouver

8pm-9:30pm
We Live Here II
Keefer & Columbia, NE corner

Saturday November 4

11am-12:30pm
Wonder Walks: Vancouver Chinatown
Register for location

12pm
Sounds Fishy Parade
Meet at InterUrban Gallery

12pm-2pm
All Bodies Dance Project
Carnegie Theatre

12pm-5pm
First Saturday Open Studios
various locations

2pm-3pm
DTES Poets
InterUrban Gallery

3pm-4:30pm
Etuaptmumk/Two-Eyed Seeing
Firehall Arts Centre

3:30pm-5pm
Megaphone's Voices of the Street Writers
InterUrban Gallery

3:30pm-6:30pm
Stop the Sweeps
Carnegie Theatre

6:30pm-8pm
Muriel's Journey Poetry Prize Chapbook Launch
InterUrban Gallery

7pm-9pm
Etuaptmumk/Two-Eyed Seeing
Firehall Arts Centre

7:30pm-9pm
Smokey Devil - Underworld Street Reporter
Carnegie Theatre
More info