Heritage Week offers a chance to explore heritage across BC and Canada and take part in programming that provides opportunities to learn and share about Vancouver’s history, diverse cultural heritage and historic places. In BC, Heritage Week is the third full week in February.
Heritage Week 2023
From February 20th to 26th, we will be celebrating the theme “Always in All Ways” and invite you to explore your community’s heritage in all the ways that excite you. We encourage you to take time during Heritage Week 2023 to celebrate the culture and heritage of the communities that make up the place you call home. This could look like anything from joining a walking tour, taking part in a workshop, to cooking a family recipe at home!
Thank you to everyone who joined us on February 22nd for a family-friendly evening of storytelling, music, table displays, and light refreshments at Heritage Hall and on February 25th for two Heritage Week strolls through Upper Mount Pleasant with John Atkin!
For a full list of Heritage Week events across the province, visit the Heritage BC website.
Heritage Week 2020. Credit Kamran Safari
Heritage Week 2020. Credit Kamran Safari
Heritage Week 2020. Credit: Ric Lam
Heritage Week 2020. Credit Kamran Safari
Heritage Week 2020. Credit: Ric Lam
Heritage Week 2020. Credit Kamran Safari
Heritage Week 2020. Credit: Rick Horne
Heritage Week 2020. Credit: Ric Lam
Heritage Week 2020. Credit Kamran Safari
Heritage Week 2020. Credit Kamran Safari
Heritage Week 2020. Credit: Ric Lam
Heritage Week 2020. Credit Kamran Safari
Heritage Week 2020. Credit: Ric Lam
Heritage Week 2020. Credit Kamran Safari
Heritage Week 2020. Credit: Rick Horne
Heritage Week 2020. Credit: Ric Lam
Heritage Week 2022
From February 21st to 27th, we celebrated the theme “altogether inclusive” and explored the many ways that heritage engagement requires creativity, as well as unique solutions and actions to encourage broad participation. Heritage can and must foster best practices in diversity and accessibility. By reducing the many different types of barriers that keep people from enjoying heritage and feeling safe, then lives will be enriched. When heritage responds to diversity and accessibility challenges, it becomes inclusive. This is possible for even the smallest of heritage organizations and is reason to celebrate.
Places that Matter Community Celebration, February 23rd, 7pm – 8:30 pm
Vancouver Heritage Foundation presented an evening of storytelling from the Places That Matter project, hosted virtually through Zoom. Our 5th annual community celebration featured Musqueam community members, the reading of the Heritage Week 2022 Proclamation by City Council and special guest speakers on Vancouver’s places that matter.
Altogether Inclusive: A Heritage Week Virtual Stroll, February 23th, 7pm – 8pm
Local historian, author and seasoned walking tour guide, John Atkin, celebrated Heritage Week by visiting some of Vancouver’s unique heritage spots – like Mole Hill – on this virtual walk!
Thank you to everyone who joined us for Heritage Week 2021!
From February 15th-21st, we explored the theme “Where do you find heritage?” Gathering virtually with our community, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Places that Matter program, discovered some of Vancouver’s lesser known heritage spots and got inspired to go outside and sketch our favourite local heritage buildings and places.
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Places That Matter Community Celebration: 10th Anniversary Year!
Tuesday, February 16th, 7pm – 8pm
We launched Heritage Week 2021 with an evening of storytelling and a look at the first 10 years of the Places That Matter project. The program included: Musqueam Welcome with Alec Guerin and the story of Musqueam with Mack Paul, Heritage Proclamation by Deputy Mayor, Councillor Carr, stories directly from Collingwood Neighbourhood House, the family of Nellie Yip Quong and family-owned East India Carpets about the First Sikh Gurdwara on West 2nd Avenue.
Places That Matter launched with a plaque project in 2011 to recognize community-nominated sites that highlight some of the lesser-known people, places and events that have shaped Vancouver. A decade later, with 88 plaques installed, the online Community History Resource continues to grow with community contributions of personal stories and photographs for the 125 sites.
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Urban Sketching Workshop
Thursday, February 18th, 12pm – 1pm
Author and illustrator of Hand Drawn Vancouver, Emma FitzGerald, led participants in learning how to sketch with confidence. We explored how drawings can be a prompt for storytelling and got inspired to go outside to sketch favourite neighbourhood spots or local heritage buildings and places. Emma also shared tips for drawing on location, including intimidating architecture.
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Discovering Heritage Places: A Virtual Stroll
Saturday, February 20th, 10am – 11am
Heritage is all around us – sometimes you just need to look closely! Local historian, author and seasoned walking tour guide, John Atkin, explored some of Vancouver’s lesser-known heritage spots and shared the history of some of the buildings that make our neighbourhoods unique on this virtual walk.
Heritage Week 2020
In 2020, the theme of Heritage Week was “2020 Vision: Bringing the Past into the Future”. The restoration and adaptation of heritage buildings is key to a sustainable future, preserving community and cultural spaces, retaining affordable retail and residential spaces and keeping usable building materials from landfills, all while enriching our streetscapes and neighbourhoods. The future also includes reconciliation with Indigenous communities and a more inclusive telling of the stories of the past for all communities. Across three events, we explored the role of heritage in our future throughout Heritage Week, February 17th – 23rd.
We created a short video with some highlights from the week. You can view other VHF videos on our YouTube channel.
