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Eastside Culture Crawl Expands Its Creative Footprint

Now in its 29th year, Vancouver’s beloved Eastside Culture Crawl returns from November 20 to 23, 2025, bringing with it a record-breaking celebration of local creativity. Presented by the Eastside Arts Society (EAS), the festival welcomes more than 500 artists across over 80 buildings—20 of them new additions—marking the most expansive Crawl in its history.

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This year, the festival begins a three-year partnership with the Audain Foundation, whose support underscores the importance of sustaining creative spaces amid Vancouver’s shifting urban landscape. “We are thrilled to welcome returning and new visitors to experience the incredible breadth of artistic practice that happens right here in the Eastside Arts District,” says Esther Rausenberg, Artistic Director of EAS. “Despite economic hardships and reduced access to studio space, our artists continue to produce work that is rich, diverse, and deeply inspiring.”

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Each November, more than 45,000 visitors move through the streets, studios, and workshops bounded by Columbia Street, 1st Avenue, Victoria Drive, and the Waterfront—collectively known as the Eastside Arts District. The Crawl offers an intimate look into the working worlds of painters, sculptors, photographers, designers, and craftspeople who shape Vancouver’s cultural heartbeat.

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Exploring The 2025 Theme: Passion, Reason, Idiocy

The festival will also host the 2025 Preview Exhibition, a multi-venue, salon-style curated exhibition that explores a variety of media, formats, techniques, and styles. This year’s theme of “Passion, Reason, Idiocy” invited participating artists to submit works that speak to the emotional, rational, and foolish elements of their lived experience as working artists. The exhibition will feature juried works from 78 artists at three venues from November 6-30, 2025: Pendulum Gallery, The Cultch Gallery, and Alternative Creations Gallery.

Opening receptions on November 6 (6–8 p.m.) will bring audiences face-to-face with these artists, sparking conversations around what it means to create art in turbulent times.

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Take Flight: Supporting The Artists

Before the studios open, EAS hosts Take Flight, its annual fundraising initiative running until November 4. The event includes the ever-popular Art Roulette, where each ticket guarantees an original artwork donated by Eastside artists. The accompanying silent auction—opening October 25—features experiences such as a curator-led Vancouver Art Gallery tour, a three-night stay at The Ivy on Parker Guest House, and luxury prizes from local partners.

These community-driven fundraisers ensure that the Culture Crawl remains free and accessible, helping to sustain Vancouver’s largest collective of working artists.

Moving Art: Unity

The Crawl’s creative expression extends beyond the studio and into the streets through the Moving Art: Unity film and video exhibition. Partnering with the Lumière Festival (November 13–16), the twelfth annual screening will showcase short films from eight participating artists, projected nightly at an outdoor location to be announced. Curated by Esther Rausenberg, Kate MacDonald, and Sierra MacTavish, this year’s program explores the theme of unity through collaboration, identity, and resilience.

Talking Art

As part of the festival’s continuing dialogue with the community, the Talking Art panel series returns with three thought-provoking events streamed online:

Talk 1 – Collective Perspectives in Analogue Film (Nov. 5, 7 p.m.)
Filmmakers Nisha Platzer and Isaac Forsland present analogue works that celebrate collective creation, shared authorship, and tactile experimentation. Curated and moderated by Kate MacDonald, the discussion examines how film can build vulnerability and trust through process.

Talk 2 – in situ: finding place (Nov. 12, 7 p.m.)
Artists Mackenzie Perras and Jes Hanzelkova delve into art practices rooted in “place”—as inspiration, medium, and performance site. Curated and moderated by Samantha Mains, the conversation explores how geography and environment shape artistic identity.

Talk 3 – Creating in Community (Nov. 13, 7 p.m.)
Artists Jai Sallay-Carrington and Gina D’Aloisio discuss how collaboration, residencies, and digital connectivity reshape creative perspectives. Also curated and moderated by Samantha Mains, this talk highlights the evolving intersections of identity and influence in contemporary practice.

A Celebration Of Art And Resilience

The Eastside Culture Crawl remains a defining moment in Vancouver’s cultural calendar—an immersive celebration of the people, spaces, and stories that make the city pulse with creativity. With a growing network of artists and expanded programming, the 2025 edition promises deeper engagement, richer dialogue, and renewed appreciation for the power of art to connect community.

Full event details and artist listings can be found at culturecrawl.ca.

All photography by Wendy D.

Author Profile

Helen Siwak, Luxury Lifestyle Observer: Helen Siwak is the founder of EcoLuxLuv Communications & Marketing Inc and publisher of Folio.YVR Luxury Lifestyle Magazine and PORTFOLIOY.YVR Business & Entrepreneurs Magazine. She is a prolific content creator, consultant, and marketing and media strategist within the ecoluxury lifestyle niche. Helen is the west coast correspondent to Canada’s top-read industry magazine Retail-Insider, holds a vast freelance portfolio, and consults with many of the world’s luxury heritage brands. Always seeking new opportunities and challenges, you can email her at [email protected].