The Vancouver Design Forum stands in solidarity with several activist organizations in Vancouver and arranges meeting places for Vancouver designers who want to march together. Below are some upcoming events that we support and locations where you can meet up with us.
29th Annual Feb 14 Women’s Memorial March
Friday Feb 14th, 2020. 12 pm from Carnegie (Main and Hastings)Unceded xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) territories.
Forum Meetup Location: Northwest corner of main and pender at 11:45.
On Friday Feb 14th 2020, we will gather at 10:30 am at the Carnegie Community Centre Theatre, 401 Main Street (corner Hastings, Vancouver) where family members speak in remembrance. Given space constraints, we ask the broader public to join us at noon, when the march takes to the streets and proceeds through the Downtown Eastside, with stops to commemorate where women were last seen or found; speeches by community activists at Main and Hastings; a healing circle at Oppenheimer Park around 2:30 pm; and finally a community feast at the Japanese Language Hall.
This event is organized and led by women in the DTES because women – especially Indigenous women – face physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual violence on a daily basis. The February 14th Women’s Memorial March is an opportunity to come together to grieve the loss of our beloved sisters, remember the women who are still missing, and to dedicate ourselves to justice.
2) KNOW THE PROTOCOL: In a good way, we want to inform everyone about the protocol the march that has been in place for 28 years:
At 10:30 am there will a family and community remembrance in the Carnegie Theatre. This is not open to media or the broader public.
The media and broader public begins gathering at approximately 11:30 in front of Main and Hastings where territorial elders welcome us. At noon the elders and family members exit from the Carnegie Theatre and everyone is asked to make a circle at Main and Hastings for the prayer. The march proceeds at noon only when elders and family members have exited the Theatre and after the prayer circle.
The March is organized and led by women. Women elders carrying medicines are at the front, followed by all women elders and family members and women drummers. The quilt made by loved ones in the DTES community is carried behind the family members and drummers. Everyone is invited to follow. We ask that you leave your organizational banners at home, signs honouring women’s lives are welcome.
The march makes a numbers of stops along the way for ceremony to honour where women were last seen or found. There is no photography of the ceremonies. At approximately 2 pm we stop again at Main and Hastings for speeches by community activists, followed by a healing circle and drummers at Oppenheimer Park around 3 pm, and finally a community feast at the Japanese Language Hall.
Global Climate Strike - Vancouver
Friday, September 27, 1-5pm
Vancouver City Hall
Forum Meetup Location: Broadway/City Hall Skytrain Station at 12:45. We will meet and walk up to City Hall together
On September 27th, we will stand together with people across the planet to demand climate justice. This global strike is not just for youth - this time, we need EVERYONE. We need you to put your normal life on hold and show up in the streets to demand dramatic and urgent action against the climate crisis. We will bring together citizens from Vancouver, the surrounding areas and the rest of BC to show our local and federal governments how much bolder we need them to be going forward. This action will build momentum to a federal election where we elect climate leaders.
Vancouver Pride: The Parade & Festival
Sunday, August 4th, 2019, 12pm
FORUM MEET UP LOCATION: in front of the RBC at Burrard and Georgia at 11:30
we'll walk towards the start of the route at Burrard and Thurlow and look for a good spot to watch from for the beginning of the parade at 12.
The parade route marches right through central downtown, beginning on Robson Street at Thurlow Street, continuing through the West End (on Denman Street) to finish at the Sunset Beach Festival site. The route is 3 hours.
One of the most memorable parts of the parade are the costumes, which range from show-stoppingly outrageous to personal expressions of pride, to just people being their own fabulous selves and loving it.
At 1:00 p.m. the levity is temporarily quieted for a traditional moment of silence as tribute to predecessors who fought for LGBTQ2+ equal rights, those who are no longer able to celebrate Pride, and LGBTQ2+ people around the world who remain in various states of oppression."
Creative City Strategy open house
Thursday, May 16, CityLab, 511 West Broadway
Attend one of three scheduled 30 minute presentations on the Creative City Strategy’s Action Plan, and discussion on priority actions. Share your feedback on the draft of the proposed strategic framework and actions.
10am to 10:30am
2pm to 2:30pm
6 pm to 6:30pm
The Creative City Strategy acknowledges the City of Vancouver is on unceded homelands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations.
Building a culture of reconciliation within the strategy will require collaborating closely with the Host Nations. At the heart of the strategy is a firm commitment to address equity, access, and inclusion.
They are working with the arts, culture, and creative communities to identify priorities to guide Vancouver’s future efforts and investments.
NEB Decision Day of Action - Feb 22, 16:30
FORUM MEET UP LOCATION: Scotia Bank Theatre, 16:15.
March info:
WHERE: National Energy Board - Vancouver Office, 800 Burrard St.
WHEN: Feb 22, 2019. 16:30-18:30.
Stand together at the NEB office on the due date of the report on Marine Impact by the TMEP.
http://www.climateconvergence.ca/feb-22-neb-decision-day-of-action
Women’s Memorial March - Feb 14, 2019
FORUm MEET UP location: CIBC Branch at Main and Pender, 11:45am
March info:
WHERE: Carnegie Community Centre Theatre (401 Main Street).
WHEN: Feb 14, 2019. Public invited to join at noon.
March through the DTES, stopping to commemorate places where women were last seen or found. Speeches to take place at Main and Hastings with a healing circle at 2:30 in Oppenheimer Park. Community feast at the Japanese Language hall to follow.
Photo credits: "Ilia" Emmanuelle Coutu and the POV chorus. Photo by David Cooper. Conductor: Mario Bernardi, Director: Ann Hodges, Set Design: Alison Green, Costume Design: Christine Reimer, Lighting Design: Robert Thompson.