Feature Image Credit: surreynowleader.com, photo by Anna Burns
The sun is out, and we hope you are too! With this month’s culture forecast looking as bright as it is, you’ve got no excuse for catching up on local art events by aimlessly scrolling. There are artists to meet, performances to see and pieces to contemplate, plus the sunny weather is perfect for pensively looking to the horizon as you process what you’ve just seen. It’s a win-win for everybody! Start with the following agenda of expression, and by the end of the month, you’ll be wondering how you ever viewed art through the confining borders of your screen.
Khatsahlano Festival | Vancouver
July 5, 2025
Vancouver’s largest free music and arts festival is back and is set to be bigger and more exciting than ever. Join the thousands of other culture-seeking pedestrians as they take over West 4th Avenue for a full day of music, art, food, shopping, and community celebration. This year’s lineup features an incredible mix of local favourites and up-and-coming artists performing across multiple stages.
Credit: createastir.ca
Meet & Greet Cocktail Events With Judy Cheng | Whistler
July 5, 2025
Join the Whistler Village Gallery for an exclusive evening with celebrated artist Judy Cheng! Guests will enjoy cocktails/mocktails while chatting with Judy and admiring her breathtaking landscape pieces. The Vancouver-based painter is known for capturing the quiet beauty of BC nature, and this is sure to be a unique opportunity to hear about her process and inspirations.
Credit: whistlerart.com | Judy Cheng, Summer A, Acrylic on Canvas, 60 x 60 in
Through The Garden Gates | Vancouver’s North Shore
Until July 18, 2025
North Van Arts invites you to step Through the Garden Gates and discover the hidden wonders waiting just beyond our doors. For this exhibition, CityScape gallery will be transformed into a vibrant community art garden with a mix of 2D and 3D artwork inspired by domestic floral and botanical themes.
Surrey Fusion Festival | Surrey
July 19 – 20, 2025
This vibrant two-day celebration unites over fifty recording artists and performers from around the world! In addition to the live shows, guests can tour the show pavilions, each representing a different country and its unique culture, learning about customs, cuisine, and community. There will also be a dedicated pavilion focused on BC’s first people, with Indigenous-led performances, workshops, and storytelling.
Credit: surreynowleader.com, photo by Anna Burns
Burnaby Pride 2025 | Burnaby
July 26, 2025
Now in its eighth year, Burnaby Pride celebrates the diversity of local 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, families & supporters! Take in the full spectrum of the rainbow in this “all-inclusive” day of performance, food and general fabulousness. Be sure to check out the vendor market full of local artists showcasing their work!
Credit: burnabypride.com | DJ Moaning Lisa
Ongoing Events
Art in the Hall: Golya Mirderikvand | Vancouver’s North Shore
Until July 23
Exhibiting at the Municipal Hall in West Vancouver, this collection of paintings presents nature scenes within a deep and detailed focus. Capturing intricate networks of branches—whether through the canopies they form or the shadows they cast, Golya Mirderikvand’s work experiments with light and shadow while zooming in on compositions that balance abstraction and realism.
Credit: ferrybuildinggallery.ca
Annie Briard: Refracted Fields | Surrey
Until July 29, 2025
Projected onto the exterior of the Surrey Library, Refracted Fields presents a kaleidoscopic visual poem about the landscapes of British Columbia. Watch as grand vistas of the Coast Mountains collide with close-up images of roadside plants while forests rip and fold, revealing new views and reborn landscapes. This breathtaking exhibition begins 30 minutes after sunset and ends at midnight, but you can stop by at any point to see its ever-evolving process.
Credit: Surrey Art Gallery | Installation image 1 of Refracted Fields on UrbanScreen. Photo by Annie Briard
Theatre Under The Stars | Vancouver
Until August 16, 2025
So much more than just a night at the theatre, Theatre Under the Stars (TUTS) interweaves a kaleidoscope of elements – setting, scenery, concessions, and quality art – into a fun, encompassing experience much greater than the sum of its parts. This season brings two wonderful musical adaptations— Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Legally Blonde!
Credit: Shawn Bukhari
Distance Between Objects, Time Between Events | Vancouver
Until Sep 7
Lindsay McIntyre engages filmmaking as a material practice. For over two decades, she has experimented with manipulating the properties of celluloid, creating a diverse body of films grounded in labour, collaboration and process. Working between documentary, experimental film and expanded cinema performance, McIntyre’s oeuvre reflects on displacement from Inuit Nunangat, place- and land-based methodologies, Inuit community, and survivance, often in conversation with her family history.
Credit: Contemporary Art Gallery | Lindsay McIntyre, qulliq, 2025. Courtesy of the artist
Bard on the Beach 2025 | Vancouver
Until Sep 20, 2025
One of Metro Vancouver’s most enduring summer traditions, Bard on the Beach, returns with four new stagings from the catalogue of Stratford’s most famous playwright. This year, you can catch Much Ado About Nothing, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] [again], and The Dark Lady. Just off the shore of False Creek, enter their famous big top tent for a local experience unlike any other!
Credit: Bard on the Beach
Star Witnesses | Vancouver’s North Shore
Until Sept 28, 2025
Taking inspiration from the night sky, this group exhibition shows the vastly different perspectives possible when looking into the cosmos. Twelve multimedia artists from across the globe show their creative takes on time, space, and infinity in a collection that will make you consider your place in a vast sea of stars.
Credit: Polygon Gallery | Carrie Mae Weems – The North Star
Gathered Leaves: Discoveries from the Drawings Vault | Whistler
Until October 13, 2025
Showcasing rarely seen pieces from the National Gallery of Canada’s renowned prints and drawings collection, this landmark exhibition spans the 15th to 20th centuries. Marvel at the evolving artistry between generations in an extraordinary glimpse into the storied institution’s vault!
Credit: audainartmuseum.com | Edgar Degas, Racehorses, c. 1895-1899, pastel on tracing paper, mounted on cardboard, 55.8 x 64.8 cm. Purchased 1950. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Photo: NGC.