VMF Winter Arts Fest

Produced by the organizers of the Vancouver Mural Festival, the Winter Arts Festival features interactive displays and entertainment in February.

The festival celebrated its fourth year in 2024 and took place between February 22nd and 27th in Vancouver.

VMF Winter Arts

The Vancouver Mural Festival’s Winter Arts Festival is a new series of events that was created during the coronavirus pandemic. It showcases beautiful art and modern technology. It also makes for a fun way to explore the city.

The Vancouver Mural Festival (VMF) is a festival that features mural paintings and live entertainment in the summer each year. The VMF Winter Arts Festival, meanwhile, is a new event, but run by the same organization.

The winter festival usually includes outdoor installations, augmented reality experiences, live performances and more.

ADVENTURE GAMES IN DOWNTOWN VANCOUVER

Looking for something fun and unique to do with friends or family? Want to solve a crime, foil a terrorist plot or save the city from a monster? Then check out Vancouver Mysteries. It offers adventure games that are like escape rooms, but played outdoors in the streets of Vancouver.

Winter Arts Festival

In 2024, the VMF Winter Arts Festival wasn’t only running in Vancouver. For the first time ever, the event began in Victoria from February 16th to 19th. Festivities in Vancouver ran from February 22nd to 27th in 2024.

Most of this year’s events were scheduled to happen in Victoria. That’s where the Winter Arts “Hub” was, with food trucks, wine, live entertainment and more. This year’s pop-up events, tours and art walks also took place in Victoria.

Vancouver events in 2024 kicked off with a free Curator Talk on February 22nd. After that was the return of Debra Sparrow’s Blanketing The City: Lighting The Way. This year’s public art series was interactive. Folks could manipulate Coast Salish patterns on various buildings in Vancouver.

VMF Winter Arts Fest — The Hub at Winter Arts Fest

Blanketing The City: Lighting The Way

Blanketing The City: Lighting The Way by Debra Sparrow allowed people to interact with facades of large buildings in Vancouver. New for this year was the Thread Runner augmented reality installation. There were large lights with Coast Salish patterns that could be changed by anyone.

The following buildings in Vancouver offered interactive outdoor installations between February 23rd and 27th in 2024:

BC Place – at 777 Pacific Boulevard.
Canada Place – at 999 Canada Place.
Cathedral Square Park – at 566 Richards Street.
Granville Island – at 1661 Duranleau Street.
Science World – at 1455 Quebec Street.
TELUS Garden – at 510 West Georgia Street.
The Biltmore – at 2755 Prince Edward Street.

The only other event that happened in Vancouver this year took place on Thursday, February 22nd. It was an Indigenous-led dialogue about Lighting The Way and other design and technology projects. The discussion featured Debra Sparrow, Joshua Conrad and Charlene Johnny. The talk was held at Herschel Supply Co., located at 347 Water Street in Gastown.