Get in the summer spirit and kick off the season with these top picks for the long weekend of May 16 - 19.

• Vancouver International Children's Festival
  Take the whole family to this world-renowned festival of performing arts for young audiences. Check out the music, theatre, dance, storytelling, puppetry, circus acts and more.

• New Music West Music Festival
  Showcasing over 200 bands in 30 venues around Vancouver, the New West Music Festival practically brings the music to you. This is last weekend to check out the shows.

• Vancouver Chinatown Night Market
  There's no Richmond Night Market this year, but you can still get your night market fix in Chinatown, every Friday, Saturday and Sunday night, starting May 16.

• Vancouver's Outdoor Pools
  Vancouver's outdoor pools-- Kits Pool, New Brighton Pool and Stanley Park's Second Beach Pool--open May 17 for the summer season. Stock up on the sunblock and go get wet.

_{Image of Kits Pool, Courtesy of Tourism Vancouver}

When it comes to pools, size does matter. Kits Pool, at 137 metres, it’s Canada’s longest pool—almost three times longer than an Olympic pool—and Vancouver’s only heated salt water pool. With its white bottom and turquoise water, it’s a vacation destination unto itself, and just stepping through the gates feels like an escape. (Personally, I do the eager-little-kid dance whenever I get near it.)

Swimming laps in the roped-off section of Kits Pool is a serious workout, but on hot days few go to the pool just for exercise. There’s sunbathing, of course, or treading water in the deep end while meditating on the tremendous views, or--hidden behind sunglasses--there's discreet and divine people-watching.

There’s no better summer spot to people-watch than Kits Pool. There are the serious swimmers, lean on top with elegant thighs. There are the show-off gym bodies, who do stretches on the grassy bit at the base of the pool (there are always at least three), and the attention-grabbers who strut around the pool, seemingly never in it. (I have to say, outside of the movies, I’ve never seen bodies as developed as those at Kits Pool.) Of course, it’s not only “beautiful” people; there’s every other type imaginable too: old and young, thin, fat, unusually hairy, and suspiciously tan (for Vancouver).

After languishing without pools during last summer’s strike, the Kits Pool’s opening day—Saturday, May 17—is a day to celebrate. And, hopefully, a hallmark of a great summer to come.

_{Image Courtesy of Vancouver Park Board}

If you're like me, the Richmond Night Market is a ritual engaged in at least once a summer. The food-and-everything-else market has become a big attraction in the Lower Mainland since it began in 2000, attracting 30,000 people a night.

Sadly, Target Events, who produce the Richmond Night Market, have cancelled the 2008 season after disputes over rent at 12631 Vulcan Way, the market's traditional location. A new location is sought for summer 2009.

So no heading down to Richmond for cheap (delicious) Asian food and a night of browsing ten different stalls of (questionable) sunglasses and DVDs. We'll have to be satisfied with the more atmospheric--but much smaller--Chinatown Night Market, which starts this Friday, May 12.

Treat Mom to a fabulous Mother's Day weekend with these picks for May 9 - 11.

• Art in the City
  The West End’s 3rd annual Art in the City event is on from Friday, May 9 - Sunday, May 11, free, and fun for the whole family. With art for sale in every medium--drawing, painting, photography, pottery, and more--it's a great way to find a unique gift for Mom while supporting local arts.

• VSO: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
  Give Mom an opportunity to put on her little black dress and pearls and treat her to the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra's performance of Mendelssohn's most popular work: incidental music to A Midsummer Night's Dream, Saturday, May 10.

• Canadian Geranium & Pelargonium Society Annual Plant Sale & Art Show
  This plant sale is a chance to see and buy rare geraniums and pelargoniums, making it a perfect day trip for moms who love gardening--the whole family can stay and tour VanDusen Botanical Gardens--or the perfect place to buy her a beautiful and unusual floral gift.

• The Pacific Spirit Run
  OK, so Mom can't run away from home. But she--and the whole tribe--can join the thousands of runners and walkers helping to raise funds for the Tapestry Foundation for Health Care at the BMO Pacific Spirit Run, Canada’s largest trail run, Saturday, May 10.

May is Asian Heritage Month in Canada, and the explorASIAN 2008 Festival, from May 1 - May 31, is a month-long celebration of all things Asian in arts, music, dance, film, and more.

The festival has events all around Vancouver practically every day in May, including the 9th Annual Asian Comedy Night on May 10, several events at the International Children's Festival, workshops on Chinese medicines and martial arts, Korean and Filipino dance performances, music concerts and more.

Check the site for schedule details, ticketing information, and festival updates.

_{Poster by Tempestphto.com and Chi Ho Design}

Get your party on with these weekend picks for the weekend of May 2 - 4.

• Vancouver International Burlesque Festival
  Comedy plus pasties--what's not to love? Check out the happenings at the last weekend of the 3rd Annual Vancouver International Burlesque Festival.

• La Bohème
  Get your diva on and sing along--actually, please don't sing along--with one of the most popular operas of all time, Puccini’s La Bohème, performed by the Vancouver Opera.

• explorASIAN 2008 Festival
  Celebrate Asian Heritage Month with the first weekend of this month-long festival celebrating all things Asian. This weekend's events include the music concerts China Red Meets Bluegrass: Red Chamber vs The Jaybirds, the glass and clay art exhibit MERGE by the Japanese Frozen-Melt, and music and dance of Bali, KEBYAR!

• Vancouver Marathon
  The 37th BMO Vancouver Marathon runs this Sunday, May 4, and includes the Marathon, walking and wheelchair events, and the kid-friendly Kids MaraFun. If you want to run, register by Saturday, May 3.

This week the Vancouver Opera offers opera lovers--and everyone else--a real treat: Puccini's La Bohème.

Puccini’s masterpiece is one of the most popular operas of all time. It was the first opera I ever saw, and I loved it. I wasn’t an opera aficionada then, and I’m not now, but you don’t have to be to enjoy this piece. The love story is straightforward, and the music is so famous you already know it, even if you have no experience with opera. In particular, the aria "O soave fanciulla” (“Oh gentle maiden") has been used in so many movies—A Room With a View springs immediately to mind—that you’ll recognize it immediately.

Performances are April 26, 29, May 1, 3, 6, 8, 2008, at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Tickets are available at the Vancouver Opera’s site.

And don’t worry about the Italian lyrics; English translations are projected above the stage.

_{Image Courtesy of Vancouver Opera}

In honor of this week's Earth Day--and the continuing festivities--why not make it a green-themed weekend? Check out these top picks for going green (eco-wise and color-wise) for April 26 - 27.

• Evergreen's Earth Day Vancouver Celebration
  Join the 3,000+ crowd at Vancouver's biggest Earth Day celebration on Jericho Beach. Listen to live music from the Vancouver Folk Music Festival, see roving performers, take nature tours, and join the Jericho Stewardship Group in beach restoration activities.

• Everett Crowley Park Earth Day Celebration
  Want to go where you're really needed? Plant trees to help with reforestation of Everett Crowley Park, once the city's land fill. The celebration includes plenty of kids' activities, main stage live music, food vendors, and more.

• VanDusen Botanical Garden Plant Sale
  Grab your wheelbarrows, carts and wagons and take home some of the 40,000 plants on sale at this huge fundraising event. Admission to the garden is free for the day, and Master Gardeners are on hand to offer advice.

_{Photo of Evergreen's Earth Day Vancouver Celebration, © Ulrike Rodrigues}

Whether you’re a master gardener or just a beginner, a cook who wants to use fresh herbs or an apartment dweller looking for the perfect plant to fit that empty corner, don’t miss the 30th Annual VanDusen Botanical Garden Plant Sale, Sunday, April 27, from 10am to 4pm.

More than 40,000 plants are on sale this year, including 125 varieties of rhododendrons and azaleas (perfect in our climate), fruit trees, herbs, orchids, alpines, tropicals, native plants, and more.

Don’t know anything about plants beyond “ooh...pretty”? Not to worry: VanDusen’s Master Gardeners are on hand to offer advice on selection, care, and treatment.

The Sale is one of the major fundraisers for VanDusen Botanical Garden, and as an added incentive admission to the garden is free that day.

So bring your wheelbarrows, carts and wagons and treat yourself and your home to some gorgeous new plants.

_{Image Courtesy of VanDusen Botanical Garden}

Ready to get down and dirty—literally--and really celebrate Earth Day? Then grab your friends, family, kids and gardening gloves and join the 3,000+ crowd heading to Jericho Beach for the 8th annual Evergreen Earth Day Vancouver Celebration, Saturday, April 26, from 11am to 5pm.

The all-day event has live music at the Earth Day Stage, courtesy of the Vancouver Folk Music Festival, a chance to join the Jericho Stewardship Group in beach restoration activities, including planting indigenous trees and wildflowers, plus roving performers, nature tours, and an Eco-Fair.

There’s also the Pedal-Powered Puppet Stage, where you can ride the bikes that power the sound. You can reserve a 10-minute bike-riding slot via the Web site or by signing up on-site.

Bonus: If you bring a reusable mug, the on-site Starbucks will fill it for free.

_{Photos © Ulrike Rodrigues}