Produced by the organizers of the Vancouver Mural Festival, the Winter Arts Festival used to feature interactive displays and entertainment in February.
The festival was going to celebrate its fifth year in 2025 and take place between February 13th and 16th in Vancouver. In January, however, it got cancelled. Not only was the Winter Arts Festival cancelled for this year, but so too was the Vancouver Mural Festival. The Vancouver Mural Festival, in fact, announced that it won’t be happening ever again!
VMF Winter Arts
The Vancouver Mural Festival’s Winter Arts Festival was a series of events that was created during the pandemic. It showcased beautiful art and modern technology. It also made for a fun way to explore the city.
The Vancouver Mural Festival (VMF) was a festival that features mural paintings and live entertainment in the summer each year. The VMF Winter Arts Festival, meanwhile, was a newer event, but run by the same organization.
The winter festival usually included 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 didn’t only run 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.
The 2025 festival in Vancouver was going to be centred in Gastown. That’s where the Winter Arts “Hub” was going to be, with food trucks, wine, live entertainment and more. There where also going to be pop-up events, tours and art walks.
This theme for the 2025 festival was going to be Gastown Through the Glass. There were going to be lights, sculptures, music, dance and different kinds of augmented reality displays.
Blanketing The City: Lighting The Way
Debra Sparrow’s Blanketing The City: Lighting The Way was the main art series at the 2024 Winter Arts Festival. It was interactive and folks could manipulate Coast Salish patterns on the facades of various large buildings in Vancouver.
The following buildings in Vancouver offered interactive outdoor installations at the event 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 other event that happened in Vancouver last year 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 on February 22nd at Herschel Supply Co., located at 347 Water Street in Gastown.
Other Information
For the most up-to-date information about the festival in February, visit the Winter Arts Festival website.
If you want to learn about the same organization’s festival in the summer, then see our article about the Vancouver Mural Festival.
Other articles that might be of interest include the following:
- Lower Mainland Festivals and Events
- Vancouver on a Budget
- February Events Calendar
- Vancouver on a Budget
- Free February Events in Vancouver
- Vancouver on the Family Day Long Weekend
