Things to do around Metro Vancouver, Aug. 7–9

Metro Vancouver has a busy slate of events from Aug. 7 to 9, including free community festivals, professional sports and outdoor entertainment. The 15th annual Vancouver Water Fight begins at 1 p.m. Saturday near Lumberman’s Arch on the north side of Stanley Park; organizers expect hundreds for the free event.

BC Place hosts the BC Lions’ FamFest game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Saturday. Plaza activities start at 1 p.m. and kickoff is at 4 p.m.; game tickets include a weekday admission to the PNE Fair later in August, excluding Labour Day Monday. Vancouver Whitecaps play Juárez in Leagues Cup action at BC Place at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Several free festivals are also scheduled. Light Up Chinatown! runs Saturday and Sunday along the 500 block of Columbia Street and nearby streets, with food collaborations, performances, vendors and community programming. Pleasant Day Festival takes over Main Street from 16th Avenue to King Edward on Saturday from noon to 8 p.m., while Gastown Sunday Set continues on Water Street every Sunday through Sept. 6.

Richmond Country Farm’s Sunflower Festival is open through the season, offering 20 acres of blooms, wagon rides, animals, food trucks and the CP Huntington Train. Weekend admission is $14 for those 13 and older and $12 for children and seniors; holiday and weekend rates listed by the farm are $17 and $15 respectively.

Other options include a free silent book club Saturday afternoon at South Granville Plaza West, Kiki Yeung’s comedy show at Yuk Yuks Surrey on Friday, and a Saturday candlelight string-quartet concert featuring Coldplay and Imagine Dragons music at Grouse Mountain in North Vancouver. Tickets for the Grouse Mountain show include gondola travel and mountain admission after 4 p.m.