CREATE! Eastside Arts Festival returns with week-long festivities

CREATE! Eastside Arts Festival Expands into Weeklong, District-Wide

Celebration of Eastside Arts Offerings

Fourth annual summer festival additions include co-presentations with Rickshaw Theatre,
Mascall Dance, Firehall Arts Centre, 604 Records, Light Organ Records & more

Eastside Arts Society (EAS) presents the 4th edition of its newly expanded, immersive
summer arts event, CREATE! Eastside Arts Festival, at various Eastside Arts District (EAD) studios,
breweries, and performance venues, in addition to its traditional all-day outdoor festivities at Strathcona Park from July 22-28, 2024. Celebrating the diversity of performing and visual arts in Vancouver’s Eastside,
CREATE! offers arts workshops, live music and dance performances, a beer garden, public art activations,
an art shop, and countless opportunities for art lovers of all ages and abilities to explore and discover.

“We are thrilled to see the evolution of the CREATE! Eastside Arts Festival into a true, district-wide event
that illuminates all that the EAD has to offer,” says Esther Rausenberg, Artistic & Executive Director of EAS.
“The significant growth of the CREATE! festival as we enter into our fourth year, showcases the rich cultural
network of venues, artists, and artist production spaces that make the EAD one of the most unique and
vibrant cultural communities in Canada.”

From Monday, July 22 to Sunday, July 28, the festival will offer affordable ticketed art workshops and
performances at pop-up locations, such as breweries, studios, and performance venues. Community
highlights include CREATE! pop-up art workshops at Off the Rail Brewing, Luppolo Brewing, and Strange
Fellows Brewing from July 22-26 and studio art workshops at 1000 Parker Street, The Mergatroid
Building, and The Arts Factory on July 28; Canadian musical artist Paul Pigat at the Firehall Arts Centre
on July 25; legendary Canadian singer songwriter Art Bergmann at the Rickshaw Theatre on July 26; a
roving piano and dance performance from Mascall Dance on July 26; live mural painting by Eastside
Culture Crawl co-founder Richard Tetrault at E. 4th Ave and Ontario St. from July 22-26; and so much
more. Visit createartsfestival.ca/schedule for a full list of events.

On Saturday, July 27, the festival returns for a full day of festivities at Strathcona Park, with a series of
outdoor art-making workshops taught by EAD artists, including: weaving, summer florals, introduction to
flamenco (all abilities), crochet, charcoal drawing, and a BIPOC expressive art workshop.

For the first time this year, CREATE! will partner with 604 Records and Light Organ Records to present a live music concert stage at Strathcona Park (July 27 from 2-6pm), featuring homegrown artists Haleluya Hailu, Fur Trade (Steven Bays and Parker Bosley from Hot Hot Heat) and Sarah Jane Scouten. A FREE all-ages

CREATE! Festival Concert pass will also include access to the festival’s Art Zone featuring public art
activities, beer garden, food trucks, and Art Shop, sponsored by the Strathcona BIA.

CREATE! Art Zone public art activities will include whimsical mushrooms using markers and vivid
watercolours; zine making, including the chance to contribute your own chapter to a community zine
displayed throughout the day; planting flowers and painting your own pot to keep; and fun with cyanotype, a photographic printing process activated by the sun.

A curated selection of local handmade artworks and goods will be available at the Festival Art Shop, and
visitors can enjoy a fully licensed beer garden, serving beer, cider, and wine from Strange Fellows Brewing, as well as a delicious assortment of food from a collection of food trucks, including Camion Café, Midnight Joes and Varinicey Pakoras.

Also on July 27, participants in Eastside Arts Society’s 9th annual Art! Bike! Beer! Crawl Brewery Tour
Fundraiser will end their day of cycling/walking and imbibing at the CREATE! Art Zone, to enjoy a last pint,
live music, art shop, public art activities and food trucks. All fundraiser proceeds will benefit the Eastside Arts Society’s yearly activities and community events.

Art workshops are $35 for youth/adults and $20 for flamenco and children’s workshops. Children under the age of 12 must be supervised by an adult. The general public can access festival activities with a FREE
CREATE! Festival Concert pass, sponsored by the Strathcona BIA. For full festival details and ticket info,
visit createartsfestival.ca.

The CREATE! Eastside Arts Festival is made possible through the generous support of Intergulf
Development Group, Onni Group, Opus Art Supplies, Beedie, East Village BIA, Gastown BIA, Strathcona
BIA, La Casa Gelato, PCI Developments, Ruth & David Group, Trail Appliances, Strange Fellows Brewing,
Stir, The Georgia Straight, Wendy D Photography, City of Vancouver, Province of British Columbia, BC Arts
Council, Canadian Heritage/Government of Canada, Canada Council for the Arts, and Vancouver
Foundation.

Event Partners: 604 Records/Light Organ Records, 604 Studios, Alternative Creations Studio, Firehall Arts
Centre, Flamingo Room, Guilt & Co, Lobe Studio, Luppolo Brewing, NOW Society @ 8EAST, Mascall
Dance, Off the Rail Brewing, Rickshaw Theatre, Slice of Life, Strange Fellows Brewing, and The Heatley.

About the Eastside Arts Society (eastsideartssociety.ca)
The Eastside Arts Society (EAS) is a visual and performance arts organization dedicated to connecting the
public with the arts. EAS produces the annual Culture Crawl Visual Arts, Design and Craft Festival held in
November that involves artists on Vancouver’s Eastside opening their studio to the public. The event
involves painters, jewelers, sculptors, furniture makers, weavers, potters, printmakers, photographers, and
glassblowers; from emerging artists to those internationally established. EAS produces additional
programming including Talking Art, juried exhibits, Studio 101 arts programming for children in the DTES,
and the Moving Art Film and Video series.

In 2021, EAS began a pioneering new initiative: developing an Eastside Arts District (EAD). The EAD will
transform the arts and cultural assets in the Eastside from an informal and grassroots network of
stakeholders, into a formalized organization with stable funding and secure, long-term facilities for artists
and cultural venues. The EAS also produces the CREATE! Eastside Arts Festival.

LISTING INFORMATION CREATE! Eastside Arts Festival

Dates, Times & Locations: View full festival schedule at createartsfestival.ca

July 22-28, 2024
Various workshops and pop-up events at various studios,
breweries, and performance venues
Workshops: Daily from 7-8:30pm
Events: Dates and times vary by venue

July 22-26, 2024
Live mural painting by Eastside Culture Crawl
co-founder Richard Tetrault
10am-4pm
E. 4th Ave. and Ontario St. (north wall of alley)

July 27, 2024
All-day activities at Strathcona Park, including art workshops,
public participation art projects, live music, art shop, food
trucks, and a beer garden.
12-6pm
Strathcona Park, 857 Malkin Ave
Workshops: 12:30-2pm & 2:30-4pm
Live Music, Public Art Activities & Art Shop: 2-6pm
Art! Bike! Beer! Crawl Brewery Tour Fundraiser: 1-5pm

Prices: $35 for Workshops ($20 for flamenco and children’s workshops)

FREE CREATE! Concert Festival Pass*
$55 for Brewery Tour Fundraiser**
*Workshops not included.
**19+ Event

Website: createartsfestival.ca

Media release provided by Deborah Hui, Murray Paterson Marketing Group.