Enjoy Richmond Hill Culture Days this weekend
Events feature food, arts, music, poetry, theatre

YorkRegion.com
Sept. 23, 2014

Culture Days are celebrated in hundreds of communities across Canada with many free activities provided by local business and non-profit organizations.

Richmond Hill organizations are coming together for Culture Days again this year and in fact, there are double the number of registered activities since last year’s Culture Days.

This year, Culture Days will be held Friday to Sunday, Sept. 26 to 28.

The aim of Culture Days is to raise the awareness, accessibility, participation and engagement of all Canadians in the cultural life of their communities. You can enjoy a wide range of disciplines, including theatre, architecture, dance and music, to name just a few.

The Culture Days website — www.richmondhillculturalplan.com/2014/08/celebrate-culture-days-in-richmond-hill — offers more than 100 events in Richmond Hill this weekend. The web search can be sorted by the proximity to your area or the type of activity you want to participate in.

If you’re looking for more information on a specific event, the website will tell you more about the host organization, give you a detailed map on how to get there and it will even give you the option to confirm you are attending so others can see how popular the event will be ahead of time.

Many arts groups in Richmond Hill are participating in Culture Days.

The Bayview Watercolour Society will have an art show all three days at Richmond Green.

A free Preview Show of the annual Richmond Hill Studio Tour and Art Sale will be held at Hillcrest Mall Sept. 26 through 28.

On Saturday and Sunday, the Richmond Hill Group of Artists will present a show and sale at The Mill Pond Gallery, 314 Mill St.

If you’re hungry, Culture Days also boasts events where host organizations will offer delicious and often free food samples. For example York Culture.ca hosts a Taste of Persian Food at Shishlix restaurant or you can attend a cake decorating workshop sponsored by York Culture.ca which takes place at B.B. café, 10067 Yonge St. Friday and Saturday.

There is an Art of Remembrance event Sunday at the Richmond Hill Centre for Performing Arts, from 4 to 6 p.m., featuring a display of artwork by community artists focusing on veterans and Remembrance Day.

There are poetry readings, a writing seminar, live music, ceramic painting workshop and more. Head to culturedays.ca and search for Richmond Hill to find more specific information on events.

SIDEBAR

Enjoy Plays In Cafés Friday
 
One of the many cultural events on this weekend in conjunction with Culture Days is Plays In Cafés.

Three new plays have been written by local playwrights and will be staged by professional actors at three café locations in Richmond Hill and Newmarket. 

Each Shadowpath event includes a spoken word host, a musical duo and three short staged comedies performed each evening.

The first Plays in Cafes is offered Friday at 8 p.m. at Covernotes Coffeehouse in Richmond Hill, 10268 Yonge St. beside the theatre.

Then the plays move to Newmarket cafes Saturday and Sunday.

Amends, by Claire Acott, is a short play about a planned reunion in a cozy bistro when an old high school flame seeks to make amends.

Groceries Gone Wild, written by Peter Karolyi, depicts a couple struggling to find a way out of a grocery addiction, while Point of View, by Chantal Forde, features a man meeting a woman in a café, when her ex walks in.

Musical guests Broccoli & Sunshine will perform, as well.

Shadowpath is a charitable arts organization, based in Richmond Hill, that turns everyday spaces into creative places. Plays In Cafés is their café theatre event.

VIP tickets get you a reserved table at $15 per person with a great view of the performances, plus a signed script. VIP guests are also automatically entered into a draw to win two tickets to Shadowpath’s Readings In Wineries Dec. 4. 

Patrons can also show up the day of the event and find a spot on a first-come-first-serve basis and pay-what-they-can at the door.

Go to www.playsincafes.eventbrite.ca or www.shadowpaththeatre.ca