Metro Vancouver Communities Come Together for Culture Days

Posted by ReyFort Media

Canada’s largest public participation campaign for the arts returns again for three weeks of free events this fall, as BC Culture Days invites communities to explore the mental health benefits of arts, culture, and heritage

VANCOUVER, B.C. – Culture Days returns this fall from Sept. 19 to Oct. 12, 2025, with over 250 free and pay-what-you-may music events, arts workshops, open studios, exhibitions, and more across Metro Vancouver. Offering accessible, inclusive, and low-barrier arts and culture activities for all ages, participants are invited to explore local creatives, go behind-the-scenes, spark their own creativity through hands-on and interactive experiences, and create lasting connections. Plan ahead with easy-to-use tools at culturedays.ca/bc to browse and pre-register for events, set reminders, and bookmark favourites, and follow @BCCultureDays for updates.

Spanning 15 Metro Vancouver cities – including Vancouver, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Richmond, Surrey, Burnaby, Delta, New Westminster, Coquitlam, Port Moody, Port Coquitlam, Langley, Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, and White Rock — Culture Days will showcase local artists, creators, cultural groups, galleries, museums, libraries, and more. Attendees can explore art tours, exhibitions, and performances; enjoy film screenings, workshops, and knowledge-sharing discussions; and take part in local festivals, collaborative art projects, and digital experiences.

“Participation in local arts and cultural activities has a profound impact on the vibrancy of our communities, as well as our health and economy,” says BC Culture Days Program Director, Nazanin Shoja. “When we shine a spotlight on the many ways people can engage with arts and culture close to home, we rediscover a deeper appreciation for their role in strengthening community life and economic vitality—encouraging greater investment from both funders and the public.”

Metro Vancouver Highlights
From artist demos, a dance performance, and a jazz jam at Burnaby’s Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, to multilingual public art tours in Coquitlam (English, French, Mandarin, Farsi, and Korean), and kids’ art activities at Delta Libraries (including recreating famous masterpieces with cereal), the 2025 program is brimming with local creativity.

• Performances & Festivals: BollyFusion dance performance and workshop in Port Coquitlam; Apple Harvest Festival in Maple Ridge; RiverFest celebrations and cultural crawls in New Westminster and North Vancouver; Mid-Autumn Festival at Richmond’s Britannia Shipyards; Come Toward the Fire, a two-day Indigenous arts festival in Vancouver.
  
• Interactive & Family-Friendly: Community singalong in Port Moody; Culture Days Open House at Clayton Arts in Surrey; hands-on art-making, workshops, and collaborative projects in cities across the region.

The CARE Series
This year’s mental health theme will be spotlighted through the CARE Series (Community Arts Reimagining Equity and Wellness), led by BC Culture Days ambassadors—emerging artists selected for a province-wide mentorship program. Each event will engage community members in creative activities such as storytelling, singing, painting, mask-making, dancing, and acting, encouraging self-care, creativity, and connection in an inclusive, supportive space. A mental health professional will be present at each event as an active listener for participants who need support.

Metro Vancouver will host two CARE Series events:

• Teach Me About You — a storytelling workshop with Ashleigh Giffen (Vancouver)
  
• A Community of Yes: Fostering Collective Joy Through Improv — a show and workshop with Jacki Gunn (Burnaby)

Culture Days raises awareness, accessibility, and participation in arts and culture across Canada. Organizations and artists in B.C. are encouraged to register their free, interactive events for Sept. 19 to Oct. 12, 2025 on the Culture Days website. Anyone—from grassroots community volunteers, public libraries, and independent artists to major arts, culture, and heritage institutions, specialty festivals, and municipalities—can register Culture Days events as long as the events are participatory and free or pay-what-you-may to attend. Event registration is open until Sept. 18, 2025 at 8:59 p.m. PT.

For more information on how to take part in BC Culture Days, sign up for the BC Culture Days newsletter or visit culturedays.ca/bc. For updates on BC Culture Days and the BC Culture Days artist ambassadors, please follow BC Culture Days on Facebook, Instagram, BlueSky, TikTok, and LinkedIn. Use Hashtags: #BCCultureDays, #CultureDays, and #2025CARESeries.

Photo by Caio : https://www.pexels.com/photo/aerial-footage-of-city-skyline-11331735/