The Eastside Culture Crawl is a visual art, design and crafts festival. It showcases the work of hundreds of local artists at studios across East Vancouver.

The Eastside Culture Crawl takes place in mid-November. Other events you might like in the same month include the Circle Craft Holiday Market, Heart of the City Festival, Chutzpah Festival and STAND Festival. The Vancouver Christmas Market also starts up in mid-November. There are lots of theatre shows and concerts this time of year too. To see what’s showing, see our article about Vancouver Shows & Entertainment.

To learn about the Eastside Culture Crawl, continue reading.

This article contains the following information about the Eastside Culture Crawl:

When and Where? | Culture Crawl Events and Exhibits | Eastside Culture Crawl Video | Other Information

Eastside Culture Crawl

The Eastside Culture Crawl is a free festival. It takes place every year around mid-November. The events feature the work of local Vancouver-based artists.

The Culture Crawl has grown from its humble origins in 1997 to include as many as 500 artists and close to 80 venues in Vancouver in recent years.

During the event there are workshops, demonstrations, talks and studio tours. Participating artists include painters, sculptors and potters. There are also those who specialize in jewellery, wood, glass and other mediums.

When and Where is the Culture Crawl?

In 2024 the festival happens from November 14th to 17th. Hours on the Thursday and Friday are from 5:00 pm until 10:00 pm. On the Saturday and Sunday things run from 11:00 am until 6:00 pm.

The festival occupies various venues in East Vancouver between Victoria Drive, Columbia Street, First Avenue and the Burrard Inlet waterfront. One of the most popular venues is Parker Street Studios on the 1000 block of Parker Street. It’s a massive warehouse that’s full of studios.

Culture Crawl Events and Exhibits

Art studios have open houses all around the region during the Eastside Culture Crawl, and individual artists host special exhibitions as well.

Main events include Take Flight (a silent auction and Art Roulette), Studio 101 (workshops for youth), and various panels and artist talks. In 2024 there’s also an Eastside Culture Crawl film and video exhibition called Moving Art that plays at the West End Community Centre during the Lumiere Festival from November 7th to 10th (so before the Culture Crawl itself).

David Wilson’s Art Studio

For an idea of what to expect in 2024, one example of an event in 2021 was David Wilson‘s “Day Into Night.” It was part of the Open Studio Festival Weekend. You could see his work at Parker Street Studios in Suite 206 at 1000 Parker Street from November 18th until the 21st. No appointment was necessary. You could just show up between 5:00 pm and 10:00 pm on the Thursday and Friday or between 11:00 am and 6:00 pm on the Saturday and Sunday.

David Wilson said the following about his Eastside Culture Crawl art:

“Day Into Night features my traditional approach to painting, … the rainy streets, the long dark shadows, the bright lights, and people seeking shelter from the elements. The work speaks to our collective experience of living in this city. But the exhibition also includes loosely rendered monochromatic works on paper, board, and canvas, infused with text, symbols, and other media, integrating a new narrative into this portrait of ‘the present.'”

To learn more about David Wilson’s work, click davidwilson.ca.

Eastside Culture Crawl Video

To give you an idea of what to expect at the Eastside Culture Crawl, check out the following video. It shows scenes of the open house at Parker Street Studios. There are lots of different events like this at various venues. The open house at Parker Street Studios, however, is one of the largest and most popular events.

Parker Studios is a massive facility that’s full of dozens of artists’ studios. There are studios to explore on all four floors!

Art we saw on our visit in 2021 (some of which you’ll see in this video) includes works by David Wilson, Lori Goldberg, Jennifer Harwood, Yasmeen Strang, Michael Soltis, Carla Tak, Krista Johnson, NikNaz Kahnamoui and other artists. The video starts in David Wilson’s studio.

Other Information

For more details about this event, see the Eastside Culture Crawl website.

If you like this kind of event, other ones you should check out are Art Vancouver and the West of Main Art Crawl. They both happen in the spring. The first is a big art show at the Vancouver Convention Centre. The other one is an event where lots of Vancouver art studios open their doors to the public (kind of like the Eastside Culture Crawl, except in the west side of the city). There’s also the Steveston Grand Prix of Art in Richmond, which is a painting competition and exhibition in the summer.

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