Attractions &
Community
Events

Visit Vancouver’s natural history museum at the UBC campus featuring over two million specimens, a 26-metre blue whale skeleton, and six collections: Cowan Tetrapod Collection, Marine Invertebrate Collection, Fossil Collection, Herbarium, Spencer Entomological Collection, and Fish Collection.

Raising Big Blue, a documentary about the blue whale skeleton, will play in the theatre throughout the day: 10:30am, 11:30am, 12:30am, 1:30pm, 2:30pm, and 3:30pm. Registration not required.

2212 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC
V6T 1Z4 – map

UBC Botanical Garden is a place where visitors of all ages can explore and learn about plants, people, and biodiversity from every corner of the world. Explore the garden on a one-hour walking tour with trained staff, volunteers, and students, and discover the wonders of plants, biodiversity, and the stories behind the garden and our collection. Tours start at 11:00am, 1:00pm, and 3:00pm. Registration not required.

Join us to discover the wonders of creating colour on cloth using leaves and flowers, with a focus on native plants. This introductory class will explore colour opportunities with a tour of UBC Botanical Garden and work hands-on with four different plants. Participants will have the opportunity to dye and eco-print socks and a handkerchief to take home. BUY TICKETS

6804 SW Marine Drive
Vancouver, BC
V6T 1Z4 – map

The Chung | Lind Gallery features collections of rare and culturally significant materials from Canada’s history. From maps, letters, and photos from a trailblazer and prospector in the Klondike goldrush to rare documents and artifacts, paintings, and books that represent early BC immigration and settlement, particularly of Chinese people in North America, explore the complementary exhibits from the Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung, and the Phil Lind Klondike Gold Rush Collection.

1961 East Mall
Vancouver, BC
V6T 1Z1 – map

Immerse yourself in the landscape of a working farm and research, community, and teaching hub! Don’t miss the biggest weekly event on the farm, bringing in dozens of vendors selling local fruits, vegetables, meats, baked goods, and more. All of this is in addition to the certified organic, farm-fresh produce from the UBC Farm. Join a guided tour to explore and discover what the dynamic UBC Farm offers about learning, research, and food cultivation. Tour starts at 12:00pm. Registration not required, but space is limited.

3461 Ross Drive
Vancouver, BC
V6T 1W5 – map

The Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery is a contemporary art gallery that presents exhibitions, houses a collection, and maintains the Outdoor Art Collection at UBC’s Vancouver campus. 

The current exhibits on display include:

An Opulence of Squander (curated by UBC alumna Weiyi Chang), which reflects on ecological and social questions, the implications of rapid growth and the effects of labor on nature. 

That Directionless Light of the Future: Rediscovering Russell FitzGerald (curated by Jon Davies), which features works by this artist/writer and social ideas of the postwar avant-garde.

Explore on your own or join the Belkin staff for introductions to the exhibitions on tours beginning at 10:30am and 11:30am. Registration not required.

2:00pm presentation by curator Barbara Cole and Professor Richard Cavell will discuss Lionel and Patricia Thomas’s newly restored, outdoor mosaic, Symbols for Education (1958/2024), the role of public art on campus, the mosaic as a medium for communication. Registration not required.

1825 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC
V6T 1Z2 – map

Rediscover the beloved Museum of Anthropology (MOA) in its renewed state, featuring new displays of Northwest Coast Indigenous art and two new exhibitions offering Indigenous perspectives on colonial history.

The current exhibits on display include:

To Be Seen, To Be Heard: First Nations in Public Spaces, 1900–1965 is an immersive, multimedia exhibition showcasing how BC First Nations represented themselves in urban public spaces during the period of potlatch prohibition and other forms of erasure in Canada.

In Pursuit of Venus [infected] by Māori artist Lisa Reihana is a digitally animated interpretation of the French Neoclassical wallpaper “Les Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique.” Reihana’s work presents a darker narrative, highlighting the oppressive and violent exchanges often omitted from the utopian colonial depiction of encounters between Europeans and Polynesians.

6393 NW Marine Drive
Vancouver, BC
V6T 1Z2 – map

Renowned as one of the most traditional Japanese gardens outside of Japan, Nitobe Memorial Garden is a stroll garden and authentic tea house. The garden welcomes visitors to a space of tranquility, introspection, and quiet contemplation. Enjoy the beauty of Nitobe Memorial Garden while learning more about traditional Japanese garden design on a one-hour walking tour with trained staff, volunteers, and students. Tours start at 11:00am, 1:00pm, and 3:00pm. Registration for tours appreciated.

1895 Lower Mall
Vancouver, BC
V6T 1Z4 – map

Visit the Pacific Museum of Earth to journey through 4.5 billion years of Earth’s evolution. Get hands-on with real dinosaur bones, learn about natural disasters, marvel at dazzling mineral and gem displays, and discover the mineral composition of your smartphone. Enjoy special activities and talks celebrating our newest exhibit, Life at the Edge — showcasing a 76-million-year-old tyrannosaur!

6339 Stores Road
Vancouver, BC
V6T 1Z4 – map

Discover what a real laboratory is like at the Michael Smith Labs! Here’s your chance to use microscopes for an in-depth examination of pond samples. Explore the wonder of the microbial world and uncover amazing biodiversity. Perfect for kids and the young at heart, this experience promises to ignite curiosity and wonder! Registration appreciated. Open to the entire UBC community.

10:30am, 11:00am, 11:30am, and 12:00pm (30-minute sessions each)

Michael Smith Labs, Room 105
2185 East Mall
Vancouver, BC
V6T 1Z4 – map

Hosted by the UBC Faculty of Science.

Join us for the launch of a new book by renowned educator, speaker, storyteller, and author Carolyn Roberts (BEd’14, MEd’18). Re-Storying Education details the process of dismantling old narratives taught in education and building new narratives to include all the voices that have created this place known as Canada today. Roberts will speak about her book, and Indigenous scholars will discuss the importance of the work that this book outlines. A light reception will follow. Registration appreciated. Open to the entire UBC community.

First Nation House of Learning
1985 West Mall
Vancouver, BC
V6T 1Z2 – map

Hosted by the UBC Faculty of Education

Experience a hands-on molecular biology lab that will enable you to take home a sample of your own DNA. In this session at Michael Smith Labs, explore the fascinating science of genetics and discuss the important ethical considerations involved. Registration appreciated. Open to the entire UBC community (best for ages 10 and up).

Michael Smith Labs, Room 105
2185 East Mall
Vancouver, BC
V6T 1Z4 – map

Hosted by the UBC Faculty of Science