Ski Racing - December 17, 2009

Nope, this headline does not refer to a night out in Whistler. It refers to two of the bands lined up for the Cultural Olympiad, a 60-day festival running parallel to the Vancouver 2010 Games. The program features some of Canada’s (and the world’s) best artists and performers including Feist, the Hal Willner’s Neil Young Project and Blue Rodeo.

Billed as a “celebration of the contemporary imagination,” the festival will feature a variety of music, dance, theatre, visual arts, film, outdoor “spectaculars” and digital media experiences in more than 1,500 free and ticketed performances and exhibitions. Headlining the show will be the “Hal Willner’s Neil Young Project,” a collaboration hatched by renowned Canadian producer Hal Willner to honor the rock icon. Canada’s Broken Social Scene and Joan as Police Woman, among others, will come together to perform some of Young’s most famous work.

Quebec’s own The Lost Fingers will bring their unique take on 80’s pop hits in a swinging gypsy-jazz style sparked by their musical mentor celebrated guitarist, Django Reinhardt. They have quickly gained popularity across Canada with their updated versions of yesterday’s hits like “Billie Jean,” “You Shook Me All Night Long” and “You Give Love a Bad Name.” You gotta hear it to believe it.

Also on tap are club sensations Chromeo and Team Canada DJs; acoustic iconoclast City and Colour; and Somali-Canadian rapper, poet and musician K’naan, who will team with Tinariwen, a collective of poet guitarists for a special performance.

Classical music and opera fans will find Mahler’s “Symphony of a Thousand” by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and Vancouver Opera’s production of Nixon in China. For those checking in from afar, the Cultural Olympiad’s Digital Edition (CODE) is an online collaborative art project. Highlights of CODE Live will include a Drum & Light Festival anchored by Vancouver’s 14-piece Hard Rubber Orchestra and a live performance by well-known scratcher Kid Koala, who achieved international fame in 2000 with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and went on to open for Radiohead and Bjork.

A project called Art Under Foot will bring local artists Liz Calvin and Bruce Walther to oversee the daily design and production of four tile mosaics on Vancouver’s sidewalks. The mosaics will take shape as passersby watch daily during the month of February. Visitors can watch the designs come to life while interacting with the artists.

Up north, the Cultural Olympiad will partner with Whistler Live, a network of six outdoor stages, screens and performance sites throughout the Whistler Village. For nearly a month, there will be free entertainment every day throughout the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. When the day’s competition winds down, live music, films, street performances and visual arts will crank up. Whistler Medals Plaza will be the centerpiece of Whistler Live, hosting nightly victory ceremonies with athlete medals presentations and concerts from artists including Canadians Blue Rodeo and, yep, the Barenaked Ladies. — Eric Williams

For more information visit vancouver2010.com/celebrations-and-ceremonies

Along with serving seafood, pasta and steak at the main restaurant, they’ll operate a temporary tapas bar called PCH Prime near the downhill finish. If you don’t mind constantly ringing cowbells, the Swiss House will take over local restaurant/lounge The Mountain Club. “That place will be pretty bumping,” says Fraughton.

Called “easily the most popular bar in Whistler,” and “one of the most favorable locations in all the drinking world,” by the National Post’s Mark Hume, the Longhorn Saloon is at the base of the Whistler and Blackcomb gondolas and is a locals’ favorite for cracking pool balls and slamming shots while fueling up on pub grub. With a frat house vibe and a heated outdoor patio, it will be packed fast.

In the heart of Whistler Village is Moe Joe’s Nightclub, which has hosted Toots and the Maytals, the Team Canada DJs, DJ Jazzy Jeff, the Sweatshop Union and Guru, among others.

Trendy hotspot Garfinkel’s, voted 2009 Whistler Venue of the Year at the Vancouver Nightlife Awards, is a large nightclub and concert venue located near the Whistler Town Square. Garfinkel’s has a weekly lineup of parties including locals’ night on Thursdays and Big Party Saturdays. With special events like Burlesque/Cornucopia’s Naughty Party, Garfinkel’s should only reveal more of its raucous side during the Games.

For a more laidback scene, there’s Roland’s Pub at Creekside, and for the nordic crowd setting up shop near Squamish, the spot to be is the Shady Tree Pub, which has 15 beers on tap.

Vancouver

With freestyle skiing and snowboarding at Cypress Mountain in North Vancouver, the newest sports’ athletes will be close to the main hub of the Games.

“Yaletown, a neighborhood of clubs and restaurants, is going to be hot,” says Nancy Lanthier, events listings coordinator for the Vancouver Sun, who points specifically to celeb hangout the Opus Bar, a lounge in the Opus Hotel known for its innovative cocktails, “O Bites” and live music from some of the city’s best local DJs.

The Gastown neighborhood near BC Place (site of Opening and Closing Ceremonies) has a variety of clubs and bars to celebrate a victory or forget a loss.

“The Modern is kind of hip for the younger crowd, with the latest DJs locally and internationally,” says Lanthier of the award-winning Gastown discotheque with two floors of state-of-the-art sound and light systems.

Down the street from the BC Place are Belgian restaurant Chambar and, next door, a sister daytime restaurant, Medina, for coffee and Morocco-in-spired lunches/brunches and good music.

And down a back alley is Gastown’s Salt Tasting Room. “Salt is a restaurant and wine bar but it’s pretty groovy for going to have a drink,” says Lanthier. “It’s in a back alley and back alleys in Vancouver are kind of sketchy, so it’s a classy place in a back alley in the east side — it adds to the cachet.” Vancouver Sun restaurant editor Mia Stainsby says visitors have to try izakaya, a spin-off of sushi that she explains as creative Japanese-style little dishes; try Hapa Izakaya on the west end.

“Chinese restaurants are part of the scenery here,” adds Stainsby. “Try Sun Sui Wah for a taste of what Chinese food (including dim sum) should be.” And, oh yeah, you’re on the ocean. Outdoor eatery Go Fish has fresh-off-the-boat fish and chips and po’ boys. Sounds like the perfect post-ski cross meal to us.