Nonprofit Organizations in Vancouver

Vancouver Fashion Week (VFW) is a one-of-a-kind event that continuously brings together buyers, media, celebrities, industry professionals and innovative designers from around the world to celebrate creativity and fashion. Diversity and multiculturalism are VFW's core values. This semi-annual event has been host to a range of collections from street wear to eco-friendly garments. VFW has established itself as a highly successful and widely recognized event providing a forum to nurture and celebrate the fashion industry. In recent years, VFW has featured internationally acclaimed designers such as Ha Sang Beg, in addition to emerging designers such as Pauline van Dongen.

Founded in 1982, The Greater Vancouver International Film Festival Society is a not-for-profit cultural organization that operates the internationally acclaimed Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF), the annual VIFF Industry Conference and the year-round programming of the Vancity Theatre at the Vancouver International Film Centre. Mandate The Greater Vancouver International Film Festival Society (“Society”) is a not-for-profit cultural society whose mandate is to: 1.Encourage understanding of the world’s cultures through the art of cinema, to foster the art of cinema, to facilitate the meeting in British Columbia of cinema professionals from around the world, and to stimulate the motion picture industry in British Columbia. 2.Operate an annual Vancouver International Film Festival, a public celebration bringing the best in contemporary Canadian and international cinema and retrospective programs to British Columbia. 3.Operate the Vancouver International Film Centre and Vancity Theatre, providing the public and film community with an excellent facility for the appreciation of cinema and related art forms throughout the year. Vancouver International Film Festival Both in terms of admissions and number of films screened (144,000 and 349 respectively in 2014) VIFF is among the five largest film festivals in North America. We screen films from more than 70 countries on nine screens, including the pick of the world’s top film fests and many undiscovered gems. Three main programming platforms make our festival unique: we screen one of the largest selections of East Asian films outside of that region, we are one of the biggest showcases of Canadian film in the world and we have a large and vibrant nonfiction program. Attracting a large, attentive and enthusiastic audience the festival remains accessible, friendly and culturally diverse. As the critics say, VIFF is very much a festival “designed for the benefit of people who love films and people who make them.”

A not for profit theatre company, based in Surrey BC, presenting semi-professional theatre. Also running a youth mentorship programme, free to participants.

APPLAUSE! Musicals Society, a registered non-profit charity, has been sharing the excitement and passion of great show tunes through a series of entertaining, historical and educational concerts & revues since 1997. Our year round programming includes a series of rare, shelved & forgotten musicals in concert, two revue series: musicals 101 & show tunes year by year, cabarets and the presentation of an annual awards celebration called the OVATION Awards (January). An incorporated, non-profit, charitable society, APPLAUSE! is run by volunteers and presently operates solely on donations & ticket revenue.

Carousel Theatre for Young People provides playful, exceptional and accessible theatrical experiences that inspire, involve and educate. Each season approximately 40 000 young people and their families benefit from CTYP’s programming. At Carousel Theatre for Young People we believe that the arts, and specifically theatre, plays a vital role in a young person’s development. It takes a village to raise a child. CTYP is an intrinsic part of that village.

Diwali Fest originated in 2004 as the Vancouver Celebrates Diwali Festival, and has since evolved to become one of the largest Diwali- themed events in the Lower Mainland. What started as a one-day, volunteer-driven event has evolved to the point where we are a professionally-staffed festival that has become a destination event on the City’s cultural calendar. Throughout our history we have striven to balance several core competencies: showcasing the best and brightest South Asian talent, exhibiting artistic innovation through a myriad of forms, and engaging our wide community in as active and inclusive a role as possible.

The Eastside Culture Crawl is an annual 4-day visual arts festival in November that involves artists on Vancouver's Eastside opening their studio to the public. The event is focused on the area bounded by Columbia St, 1st Ave, Victoria Drive, and the Waterfront and involves painters, jewelers, sculptors, furniture makers, weavers, potters, printmakers, photographers, glassblowers; from emerging artists to those internationally established. The Eastside Culture Crawl officially began in 1997 with 45 visual artists in 3 Strathcona area studio buildings and was attended by a few hundred people. Since that time the event has grown to include over 400 artists, craftspeople and designers attracting an audience of more than 25,000. The organization itself has evolved to represent the heart of the East Van creative community. This year marks our 20th Anniversary!

The PuSh International Performing Arts Festival is one of Vancouver’s signature events. Produced over three weeks each January, the PuSh Festival presents groundbreaking work in the live performing arts. The PuSh Festival expands the horizons of Vancouver artists and audiences with work that is visionary, genre-bending, multi-disciplined, startling and original. The Festival showcases acclaimed international, Canadian and local artists and mixes them together with an alchemy that inspires audiences, rejuvenates artists, stimulates the industry and forges productive relationships around the globe.

The Secret Lantern Society celebrates art, culture, and light through our annual Winter Solstice Lantern Festival and other community events.

We are a theatre collective presenting the play "An Inspector Calls" by J.B. Priestley

Raindance Vancouver is a not-for-profit organization that promotes and supports independent filmmaking in Vancouver and around the world. Raindance is founder of the Raindance Film Festival and The British Independent Film Awards.

The Beaumont Studios Artist Society (BSAS) is designed to inspire and engage artists, designers, and creative small business owners with space, events and opportunities to work together, play together, share, learn, create and produce art and artistic projects and engage with the community around it. It is a place for the public to engage with art, learn from our artist community and appreciate creativity for what it brings to our lives.