Lots of Fun and Free Stuff to See and Do During the 2010 Winter Olympics

Everywhere you go around town these days, there’s free entertainment.  From street musicians, jugglers, mimes to the big shows at the Live City sites, you can spend the day or evening wandering among the jostling, merry crowds and get caught up in the Olympic spirit.

There are a number of downtown venues.  At Robson Square there’s free ice skating at the GI Ice Plaza and if you want to wait in line for a few hours, take an exciting ride on the Ziptrek zip-line, free of charge.  There are also public art presentations on Granville & Robson Streets, around Library Square, and along Coal Harbour sea wall walk. Take a walk over to the new Convention Centreto see the giant cauldron and farther out in Burrard Inlet, the Olympic O’s.

The Four Host First Nations has a pavilion on Georgia Street at Hamilton, and an Artisan Market at VCC (Dunsmuir at Hamilton).  And be sure to visit Haida Gwai House at the Hampton Inn on Robson Street as well as the Aboriginal tourism displays and entertainment at the Pan Pacific Pavilion.  BC Hydro Smart Village,near the Canadian Pavilion, has display and family friendly events. Canada Pavilion, at Georgia and Cambie Streets has displays featuring Canadian’s involvement in the Olympics.

At the corner of Granville and Pender Streets, the Royal Canadian Mint displays Olympic medals and coins.  the Bell Ice Cube at Beatty & Robson Street)  has daily athlete appearances from 3 – 4 pm.  Or hop the seabus to Lonsdale Quay and see the Russian sailing ship Kruzenstern, visiting our port for the Winter Olympics.

Every night there’s a light show, Vectorial Elevation,  from English Bay and a laser light show in the water fountians by David Lam Park, Yaletown.  And while you are there you can visit the Live city zone and Casa Italia, at the Roundhouse where you can sample some Italian food.

Of course, you can visit the various Hospitality Houses as well.  Some of them might have long waits to get in, but if you go early there’s a chance the lineups won’t be too long. Once inside there’s lots of things to see, sometimes food samplings, and entertainment.

ALBERTA HOUSE at Robson and Beatty Street

ATLANTIC CANADA HOUSE  Granville Island

CANADA’S NORTHERN HOUSE  602 W. Hastings St.

CENTRE PLACE MANITOBA in Live City Vancouver, Georgia at Cambie Street

FOUR HOST FIRST NATIONS PAVILION Georgia at Hamilton Street

GERMAN SAXONY HOUSE Vancouver Rowing Club, Stanley Park

HOUSE OF SWITZERLAND  Granville Island

HEINIKEN HOUSE  (HOLLAND)  Richmond OZone

IRISH HOUSE  Doolin’s Irish Pub, Granville St. downtown

KOREA HOUSE 2nd floor Hyatt Regency Hotel, downtown

ONTARIO PAVILION between BC Place Stadium and SochiHouse (Science World)

PRIDE HOUSE 1170 Bute Street

PLACE de lad FRANCOPHONIE 2010 Granville Island

QUEBEC HOUSE (Maison du Quebec) at Concord Pacific site between Sochi House and BC Place

SASKATCHEWAN PAVILION  between BC Place Stadiumand Sochi House (Science World)

SCANDINAVIA HOUSE at the Scandinavian Community Centre, Burnaby

SOCHI HOUSE (Russia)  at Science World

USA HOUSE Seymour & Nelson Street

UKRAINE HOUSE 3150 Ash Street

LIVE CITY SITES

LiveCity DowntownGeorgia and Beatty Streets

LiveCity Yaletown David Lam Park, Yaletown

OZone Richmond  Richmond Centre

PoCo Zone Port Coquitlam Recreation Complex, 2150 Wilson Ave.

For a complete listing of over 50 free-of-charge admission sites see these listed here

Surrey 2010 Celebration Zone Holland Park

 

Related places:

1. A
   UBC Robson Square

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2. B
   Vancouver Convention Centre

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3. C
   Vancouver Aquatic Centre

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4. D
   David Lam Park

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5. E
   Roundhouse Arts and Recreation Centre

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6. F
   777 Pacific Blvd

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7. G
   Science World

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