Macarons displayed at Le Centre culturel francophone de Vancouver’s Christmas market in 2014.

Christmas crosses culture

Multicultural Vancouver boasts diverse Christmas celebrations

By EMELIE PEACOCK

n the multicultural city of Vancou- ver, christmas celebrations come in many different shapes and sizes. Pierre Rivard, executive and ar- tistic director at Le Centre culturel francophone de Vancouver, said there is no one tradition celebrated by all francophones as the community is so diverse. Within Canada, Rivard said French-Canadian Christmas allows for more family get togethers and time to party on Christmas Eve.

On Dec. 24, French-Canadian fami- lies attend midnight mass and then head home to open gifts and share a big meal that goes until the early hours of the morning.

“Tt seems like French-Canadians are a little bit more in a hurry, to celebrate Christmas, open the gifts and eat, or find a reason to eat twice,” Rivard said.

Giulio Recchioni, cultural director at Il Centro Italian Cultural Centre, said the Italian Christmas is all about food and getting to- gether with fam- ily. Christmas is celebrated for three days start- ing on the 24th, only fish is eaten that day where- as meat are eat-

en the two fol-

lowing days. What Recchi-

oni misses most

GIULIO RECCHIONI Cultural director, Il Centro Italian Cultural Centre

around Christ- mas time is fam- ily. To counter the loneliness he organizes get-togeth- ers for Italian expats.

“We get together for what we infor- mally call ‘orphans dinners’ for people

who don’t have a family in Canada and we just get together with that and try to cherish our traditions and our reci- pes and our food traditions on that day,” Recchioni said.

The Scandinavian Community Cen- tre in Burnaby is hosting events throughout December, each event will be unique to the country hosting on the day, but all will include “glogg”, a hot wine drink common to all five Scandi- navian countries.

“All the countries have a day in De- cember, the Norwegians have their family Christmas, the Danes have their family Christmas, the Swedes have the Lucia, the Fins have their Indepen- dence Day in December,” Carol Wal- ters, assistant manager at the Scandi- navian Community Centre.

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...[wel try to cherish our tradi- tions and our recipes and our food tradi- tions on that day

GIULIO RECCHIONI

CULTURAL DIRECTOR, IL CENTRO ITALIAN CENTRE

Drive-in returns

River District's drive-in movies for Christmas season help facilitate com- munity building

By BALA YOGESH

community is what Wesgroup are

trying to achieve, and one of their ways of achieving that task is organiz- ing a Drive-In movie shows.

Wesgroup in partnership with Fres- hAirCinemas (FAC) are organizing a drive-in movie screening for a second year in row at River District. The Christmas special drive-in movies for this year happen on weekends from Dec. 2, to Dec. 10.

Michelle Tai, one of the staff at River District Community Centre said the drive-in movies brings a lot of attention towards the community that is being created.

“Basically what Wesgroup is trying to achieve is build a sense of communi- ty before the developments are com- pleted. So, they’re trying to build more awareness and more attention towards the community,” Tai Said.

Larry Ruble, one of the nearby resi- dents said he is going to check out the drive-in movies soon.

“Tt sounds wonderful to me. I think it’s something families can do. I think it’s a good activity for everyone. There’s a sense of community in here,” Ruble said.

Russ Davis, senior event producer and film producer at FAC said he has a lot of fun in collaborating with Wes- group and River District Community Centre.

“These are our last shows of the sea- son, and we love doing these shows be- cause it is so much fun. It’s all great Christmas stories,” Davis said.

Tai said that the residents of River District have given a positive feedback on this event in the past.

“Lot of adults think that it’s cool be- cause the drive-in movies are an age old thing that happened when they were younger, so they think that’s neat and a lot of kids think it is cool because you are sitting in the car and watch it on the big screen,” Tai said.

Davis said on most occasions the event is packed with cars, and attracts both family audience as well as young couples.

“The drive-in itself can easily park 200 cars, so there are nights when we are close to that, some nights we are at capacity,” Davis said.

Com a cohesive and connected

Trivia nights hit in Raincouver

Trivia nights make avoid- ing the rain more fun

By JESSICA PURVER

competition and free beer, pub quizzes are the remedy for Van- couver’s dreary winter weeknights.

Invented in the late 1970s in England to increase sales on quiet pub nights, the pub quiz -- or trivia night -- has since grown in popularity.

According to Geoff Williams of Nice Guys Trivia, the demand for pub quiz- zes in Vancouver began ten years ago. Williams said there were only three trivia nights in the city when he ar- rived from Australia. Now, there are 42 per week.

“What I love is it’s not loud, it’s not obnoxious,” he said. “It’s just ordinary people with a reason to get together once a week.”

F:: anyone who likes trivia, friendly

Williams hosts trivia nights every Tuesday evening at the Lamplighter Public House in Gastown. He asks rounds of ques- tions ranging r4 4 from general knowledge, mu-

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[questions],” he said. “The trivia audi- ence has become a lot more sophisti- cated over the years, so you have to be really bang-on and precise.”

Brett Sinclair is a member of the La- dybro and Dude Guys team who have frequented Williams’ quiz nights for

the past four years. He said trivia is a great entertainment option, especially during Vancouver's colder months.

“It’s the trivia group that brings peo- ple together. It’s when the energy is there, everyone is super into it,’ he said. “Even if we win or lose, we go out with a smile.”

Debbie Vanden Dungen, assistant registrar at Langara, entered the pub quiz scene in 2011. Known as The Quizmistress, she said that over the years, communities have formed around her trivia nights. Their support is what keeps her motivated to put in hours of prep work.

“Tt’s so fun there. They chant, they’re loud. It’s just infectious,” she said. “Easily 50 per cent of the success of [my] show is because of the people who come.”

Vanden Dungen currently hosts triv- ia at the Brighton on Wednesdays and at East Side Craft House in South Van- couver on Fridays.

JESSICA PURVER photo Playing a trivia game at the Lamplighter Public House.