Hi friends!
Two quick ones before you scroll:
🎟️ Free Beetlejuice tickets for Saturday morning at the Park Theatre. Seats are limited, so grab yours today.
✨ VanDusen members: your 25% off guest tickets for Festival of Lights ends tomorrow.
Here’s what’s inside this issue:
🅿️ Hillcrest parking: the new way to claim your free three hours. One way is free. One isn't.
🥕 Farmers markets: who's closing, and the one that keeps going all winter.
⛸️ Skating lessons: registration opens Thursday, Nov 5 at 7pm. Set the alarm.
Let's get into it. 👇🏼
📌 The Notice Board
🅿️ Hillcrest, Kerrisdale and Trout Lake: the parking iPad is gone
The free-parking iPad inside the front doors? Gone as of Monday. RIP.
You still get three free hours at the community centre, pool, rink or library. You just claim them outside now.
📅 When: In effect since Monday, Oct 26
📍 Where: Hillcrest, Kerrisdale and Trout Lake community centres, pools and arenas
💵 Cost: Free at the parking meter. Parking apps charge a fee (under 50 cents) every time, even for the free hours.
⏱️ After three hours: $3.50/hour, paid in the same transaction
The Move
Tap in at the meter in the lot on your way in. It's free, and it's one stop. Save the app for topping up from the pool deck.
Riley Park market this Saturday? The market asks shoppers to skip the Hillcrest lots. Walk, bike, or take the Canada Line to King Edward.
🚲 Stanley Park Seawall: closed from Lumberman's Arch to Third Beach
The prettiest stretch of the seawall is closed for almost three weeks. Crews are pulling out the old maze gates, the zigzag ones that make you get off your bike. Strollers, bike trailers and adapted bikes all win once it reopens.
📅 When: Now until Saturday, Nov 14. Short closures are possible until Nov 20.
📍 Where: Lumberman's Arch to Third Beach
🔀 Detour: A signed route inland, past Beaver Lake
The Move
Do an out-and-back instead. Go from English Bay to Third Beach, or from Coal Harbour to Lumberman's Arch, then turn around. Same ocean, no detour.
🍂 Leaf season: bin first, bags second
Leaves: falling. Rake: losing. Here's how to get yours picked up instead of turning to mush on the curb. (If your building handles garbage, skip this one.)
🗑️ Green bin first: Leaves from your yard, sidewalk and boulevard go in the bin year-round.
🛍️ Overflow: Use paper yard bags or store-bought bins (100 litres max) on your extra leaf collection weekend. No plastic bags, not even "compostable" ones.
⏰ Time: Out by 7am on the Saturday. Leave the green bin in that weekend.
📍 Drop-off option: Vancouver South Transfer Station, for a fee
The Move
Look up your leaf weekend now, and keep the bags dry until then. Wet paper tears. And never rake into the street. It floods the drains, and the fine goes up to $10,000. Expensive pile.
🎃 Halloween in Cambie Village
Halloween lands on a Saturday this year, and Cambie Village is making a whole day of it. Free movie in the morning. Trick-or-treating in the afternoon. Home in time for the evening rounds.
📅 When: Friday, Oct 30 and Saturday, Oct 31
⏰ Time:
Fri 4–8pm: Haunted house, east side of W 18th
Sat 10:30am: Beetlejuice at the Park Theatre (tickets scanned by 9:45am)
Sat noon–3pm: Live music, pumpkin decorating at the Choices Market tents, trick-or-treating at Village shops, and the haunted house again
🧒 Ages: All. Beetlejuice is rated PG (92 minutes).
📍 Where: The Park Theatre, 3440 Cambie St and W 18th Ave at Cambie
💵 Cost: Free. The movie needs a (free) ticket.
The Move
Book your tickets today. Seating is assigned and seats are limited. Then aim to be scanned in by 9:45, not 10:25. Late arrivals aren't guaranteed a seat.
When the credits roll, the party's right outside on 18th. Bring a treat bag and a layer for under the costume.
About the movie: it's PG and stars a crude, chaotic ghost. It's great for school-age children who like a little spooky. With toddlers, skip straight to noon.
✨ VanDusen Festival of Lights: tickets go on sale Nov 4
A million lights and a lake that dances every 20 minutes. Popular nights sell out, so the date that matters is the ticket date.
📅 When: Nov 27, 2026 to Jan 3, 2027 (closed Christmas Day)
⏰ Time: 4–10pm, last entry 9pm, timed entry
🎟️ Tickets: Public sale opens Wednesday, Nov 4, online
💵 Cost: $29 adults, $19 youth (13–18), $12 children (5–12). Free for 4 and under, but they still need a ticket. Prices are before GST and fees.
🚗 Parking: New this year, expected to be $25 for up to three hours
Members: your 25% off non-member tickets for friends and family ends tomorrow, Wednesday, Oct 28.
The Move
Pick your night now and book it on Nov 4. Choose an entry time of 6pm or later. Sunset comes about an hour later than last year, so earlier slots start in daylight. And skip the $25 parking: the #17 bus stops at Oak and 37th, right at the garden.
Know a family who'd love the lights but not the crowds? There's a sensory-friendly evening on Tuesday, Dec 1. Forward this their way.
🥕 Farmers markets
Mount Pleasant, Dude Chilling Park: Sundays, 10 AM to 2 PM. Last one Sunday, November 1.
False Creek, Olympic Village: Thursdays, 3 to 7 PM, so it works after pickup. Last one Thursday, October 29.
Trout Lake: Saturdays, 9 AM to 2 PM. Last one Saturday, October 31.
Downtown: Wednesdays, 2 to 6 PM. Last one Wednesday, December 23.
The closest market for most of us doesn't take the winter off. Riley Park, at 30th and Ontario, wraps summer on Saturday, October 31. The winter market opens there the next Saturday, November 7, 10 AM to 2 PM. Kits carries on too, moving to Kitsilano Secondary on Sunday, November 8.
🏫 The Private School Expo at the Bayshore (Sunday)
If "where should my child go to school next year?" has been in your head, start here. It's one afternoon instead of six school tours. It's a small expo, so you can actually talk to people. And it starts at noon. Someone planned for the sugar crash.
📅 When: Sunday, Nov 1
⏰ Time: Noon–4pm. Seminars at 12:15 (navigating the school search), 1:20 (parents and alumni on what they wish they'd known) and 2:30 (admissions).
🧒 Ages: Schools from preschool through Grade 12
💵 Cost: $10 family pass, booked online
The Move
Catch the 12:15 seminar first. Then walk the room with two questions, not twenty:
"What does an ordinary Tuesday look like for a child my child's age?"
"What happens when a child is ahead, or behind?"
The answers will tell you more than any brochure.
🌶️ ⛸️ Skating lessons: registration opens Thursday, Nov 5 at 7pm
Registration for fall Set 2 of the Park Board skating lessons opens next week. Rec registration night in this city is a contact sport. Warm up.
📅 When: Thursday, Nov 5
⏰ Time: 7pm. Online, in person and by phone.
🧒 Ages: Preschool through adult, plus adapted lessons for ages 3–18
📍 Where: Park Board rinks, including Hillcrest
💵 Cost: Varies by level. Skate rental is extra. A limited number of free loaner helmets are available for registered skaters.
The Move
Log in to your rec account this week and check your password works. Better now than at 6:58pm on Thursday. Not sure of your child's level? Ask for a free assessment at any public skate. Then set two alarms, for 6:45 and 6:55.
P.S. Know a parent quietly googling school options at 11pm? Sunday's expo is an easy first step. Forward this to them.
That’s a wrap for this week.
We’ve got this!
Saba Yazdani
The Cambie Memo
