Spend on Trend is back. Shop local at this Canadian designer event at the Scotiabank Dance Center (677 Davie Street at Granville) from Friday August 21st until Sunday August 23rd. Brands including Catalyst Reaction, Davie and Chiyo, Nate Organics, Togs Design, Filou Designs, Megan Kathryn, Two of Hearts and many more will be featured at this event. The first 25 people through the door each day will receive a gift bag which includes a copy of FASHION Magazine. Tickets at $5 and are available at the door. To read MMV’s recap of the event last year, click here.
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Also, congratulations to Jennifer Peters on winning tickets to Spend on Trend through Modern Mix Vancouver. Jennifer emailed in with her main reason for shopping local – “to find something unique and to support local arts and crafts”. Keep checking your email, Jennifer, and we will put you in touch with your pair of tickets!
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Spend on Trend was one of the first events I ever wrote about on Modern Mix Vancouver, and it was the friendly guidance and support from Nicole Stewart (the PR representative behind this event) which taught me a lot more about the local fashion and media industry.
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Now, Spend on Trend is back again and Modern Mix Vancouver readers can get first dibs on this trendy exhibition event, featuring Canadian designers and their arts, crafts, clothing, jewelry, accessories and more! From August 21-23, shoppers can head down to the Scotia Bank Dance Centre (677 Davie Street) to, quite literally, “spend on trend”. Tickets to this event are regularly $5 at the door, but one lucky MMV reader will have a chance to get postal-mailed a pair of tickets, directly to their door.
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All you have to do is email info@modernmixvancouver.com and tell me what your favorite reason for shopping local is! Submissions will be drawn at random and the winner will be notified in the first week of August!!
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For MMV’s media coverage of Spend on Trend 2008, click here.

…wide range of acts and an abundance of free shows, this year’s jazz festival failed to disappoint, living up to its reputation for being a perennially stellar event.

I had the opportunity to meet up with Jennifer Petersen, the Arts Umbrella special events director, who told me all about and got me excited for the upcoming Arts Umbrella (AU) Precious Element fundraiser event at Opus Hotel on Thursday June 25, 2009.

With the theme honoring the “Gold and Glamorous”, the event promises to be a decadent affair attended by Vancouver’s glitterati, see and be scensters and fashionable stylistas. Delectable canapés courtesy of Elixir bistro’s Executive Chef, Don Letendre will be enjoyed along with mouth-watering cocktails. Gold-painted goddesses dance to the beats of talented DJ’s Blondtron & Krown, and guests will go home with a bag full of sponsored goodies.

Other reasons you should go: a balloon fundraiser with guarenteed prizes, drink tickets with your ticket purchase, a charitable tax receipt issued for a portion of the $130 ticket price, and, of course, another reason to glam up! Word on the street, there will be spa professionals from a certain company (shhh) doing gold themed mini-manicures on the spot (details unconfirmed, but keep it on the downlow!). With mingling and entertainment on two floors of the hotel, DJs in two rooms, and gift bags well worth the ticket price, buy your ticket ASAP by clicking here.
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Arts Umbrella is located on Granville Island and provides the visual and performing arts education to the children of Vancouver, between the ages of 2 and 19. The mix of topics in visual, performing and applied arts education is also exceptionally diverse and includes, architecture, cartooning, computer and classical animation, dance, film making, media arts, painting and drawing, printmaking, photography, sculpture, theatre and video game design. The Granville Island facility alone hosts more than 650 classes each week. In addition, Arts Umbrella’s extensive, free-of-charge outreach programs offer arts experiences through schools and community centres in the surrounding community.
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…presented in a historically comprehensive way that outlines the rise of the Dutch Republic’s political, economic, and cultural prominence.

On Sunday May 3rd, visit “Got Craft?” will be taking place at The Legion (2205 Commercial Drive at East 6th Avenue). Got Craft? is Vancouver’s largest indie craft fair featuring over 50 local and handmade vendors from clothing to jewelry to children’s accessories to bath and body products. Vendors include feather headbands by A Farmers Daughter, sewn handbags by Urban Harmonie Handbags and handmade toys by the Tiny Warbler (that elephant below is so adorable!). By bringing a modern twist to the conventional craft fair, Got Craft? is a one stop shop showcasing the best talent Vancouver has to offer while providing the general public with an opportunity to purchase one of a kind items. The event is from 11am to 5pm and the first 30 people through the door will receive a free swag bag full of goodies. Admission is $2 and kids 10 and under are free.

Make It is a shopping event that’s taking place at the Roundhouse Arts & Recreation Centre (181 Roundhouse Mews). The fashion, art and design market gives conscious Vancouverites the opportunity to buy unique, ethically made goods from top artisans from all over Western Canada. It is a retail show devoted to creating positive opportunities for local artists and designers. The vibe at the show is funky, hip and urban…very different from your traditional granny craft show! There will be music spun by local DJs and tasty eats to be enjoyed. Make It is about appreciating creativity, supporting entrepreneurs, and giving mindful shoppers an alternative to the mall. Over 60 exhibitors will be selling everything from clothing, art, home décor and accessories. Lastly, Make It will also be raising money for the BC Cancer Foundation through a silent auction with items donated by sponsors and exhibitors.

Date/Time: May 1st (4pm-9pm) | May 2nd (10am-5pm) | May 3rd (11am-5pm)

Apparently, British Columbians are bookworms. According to the press release I was sent by BC Book and Magazine Week, British Columbians are among the world’s most avid book consumers and spend far more leisure time reading than is the case in any other part of the country. Spend the week of April 18th to 25th checking out the various events put on by BC Book and Magazine Week. I had the PR rep for this event help me filter through the numerous events to help me choose the events most relevant for Modern Mix Vancouver readers!
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• Saturday, April 18, 7pm – 9pm
  BC BOOK PRIZE SOIREE
  Cristal Room, Metropolitan Hotel (645 Howe Street)
  Celebrate the 25th annual BC Book Prizes with finalist authors and literati at the BC Book Prize Soirée. Free admission, music, refreshments and a silent auction, with proceeds going to the BC Book Prizes On Tour program.
• Tuesday, April 21, 7 PM
  MAGAZINE CABARET: VANCOUVER (Free)
  The Railway Club, 579 Dunsmuir Street
  The BC Association of Magazine Publishers and subTerrain magazine presents a literary cabaret featuring Timothy Taylor, Paul Carlucci, Emily Kendy, penny k-kilthau, Alex Leslie and Diane Tucker, who will read from their work recently published in BC magazines.
  
• Thursday, April 23, 6 PM – 9 PM
  MAIN STREET LITERARY TOUR
  Main Street, Various Venues, Vancouver
  Main Street is the home of dozens of artist-run galleries, quirky cafés, boutique shopping and local writers. Your neighbourhood tour guides, writer, filmmaker and performance artist Amber Dawn, and poet Jennica Harper, lead you to various Main Street hot spots for an evening of arts and literary exploration.

Tomorrow, Friday March 26th, is world theatre day and Theatre at UBC is celebrating the occasion by offering $5 rush tickets at the door for the modern comedy classic, The Idiots Karamazov. The show runs at 7:30pm from March 19th to 28th at Frederic Wood Theatre.

Ayden Gallery (88 West Pender St) in Tinsletown is having an opening reception for “Nowhere Else But Here” from 7pm to 11pm. Free admission and artists will be in attendance.