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 screen in the theatre throughout the day: 10:30am, 11:30am, 12:30pm, 1:30pm, 2:30pm, and 3:30pm.

2212 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC
V6T 1Z4 – map

At UBC Botanical Garden, 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. Discover the wonders and stories of the garden and our collection. Tours start at 11:00am, 1:00pm, and 3:00pm. Registration is not required.

Join our workshop from 10:00am to 1:00pm to learn how to create colour on cloth using leaves and flowers, with a focus on native plants. This introductory class will explore colour opportunities through a tour of UBC Botanical Garden and hands-on work with four different plants. Participants will be able to dye and eco-print socks and a handkerchief to take home. BUY TICKETS (use promo code NATURALDYE for the alumni rate)

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. Explore complementary exhibits from the Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection and the Phil Lind Klondike Gold Rush Collection. Discover everything from maps, letters, and photos by a Klondike goldrush prospector to rare documents and artifacts, paintings, and books on early BC immigration and settlement, particularly of Chinese people in North America. Self-guided audio tour are available. Registration is not required.

1961 East Mall
Vancouver, BC
V6T 1Z1 – map

Immerse yourself in a working farm and research, community, and teaching hub! Tour UBC’s own organic vegetable farm—including forest, fields, and apple and truffle orchards. Stay for live music and a treat at the Saturday multi-vendor Farmers’ Market (10:00am–2:00pm). Tours begin at 10:00am, 11:00am, 12:00pm, and 1:00pm. Please register for your tour as 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. 

Current exhibit:

Abbas Akhavan: One Hundred Years presents new site-specific and installation works that blur the distinctions between stage, set, gameboard and gallery. Born in Tehran and now based in Berlin and Montreal, Akhavan is the Canadian representative for the 2026 Venice Biennale. 

1825 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC
V6T 1Z2 – map

Decolonizing Tours hosted by Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery 

Back by popular demand, this 2-hour walking tour across campus is the Belkin’s most requested tour. The Decolonization Tour highlights site-specific artworks by First Nations and Indigenous artists and raises questions around issues of place, space and identity. Considering how these works address urgent social and political concerns, we’ll discuss ideas about settler colonialism, decolonization, reconciliation, protocol and the history of UBC Vancouver, which is located on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) people. Some of the discussion can be intense. Care to create a safe space is a priority. Indian Residential School denialism will not be tolerated. 

The tour includes work by: 

• Brent Sparrow Jr. (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm), sʔi:ɬqəy̓qeqən (2016) 
• Ellen Neel (Kwakwaka’wakw), Victory Through Honour (1948/2004) 
• Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds (Cheyenne, Arapaho), Native Hosts (1991/2007) 
• James Hart, 7idansuu (Edenshaw) (Haida), Reconciliation Pole: Honouring a Time Before, During and After Canada’s Indian Residential Schools (2015-17) 
• Kayám̓ Richard Campbell (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm) and James Hart 7idansuu (Edenshaw), θəʔit (2023) 

Commitment to the full tour, which is 120 minutes long and 1.5-2 km of walking are required. Please register as spots are limited.  

Two tour times: 

• 10:00 am to 12:00 pm 
• 1:00 to 3:00 pm 

Meeting location:  

•  In front of the first artwork on the tour, Brent Sparrow Jr.’s Musqueam Double-Headed Serpent Post, located near the UBC Bookstore, 6200 University Blvd. 
•  Do NOT come to the Belkin Gallery 

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:

VALUE: Rebecca Belmore at the Museum of Anthropology examines how the Anishinaabe artist’s works confronts the dominant narratives and social structures of colonialism, and implicates us all in her concern with the social realities of Indigenous experience of capital.

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 and learn more about traditional Japanese garden design on a one-hour walking tour with trained staff, volunteers, and students. Tours start at 1:00pm and 3:00pm. Registration isn’t required. Tours are available first come, first served up to 20 people.

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. Explore 13 exhibits and enjoy a specimen showcase booth, an art mosaic, a scavenger hunt, minigames, and giveaways!

6339 Stores Road
Vancouver, BC
V6T 1Z4 – map

Join a guided tour of UBC’s new home for recreation, Rec North. The 101,000 sq. ft. activity space features a four-floor fitness centre, an elevated 200m track, three gymnasiums, and wood and rubber-floored studios. Check-in at the exterior of the north entrance for Recreation Centre North. Tours start at 1:00pm and 2:00pm. 

Recreation Centre North 
6140 Student Union Blvd 
Vancouver, BC  
V6T 1K2 – map

Experience a real lab by getting hands-on at Michael Smith Labs! Explore pond samples, discover incredible biodiversity, and immerse yourself in the wonder of the microbial world. Perfect for curious kids—and the young at heart!

Lab times: 10:30am, 11:00am, 11:30am, 12:00pm 

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

Step into the world of molecular biology at this hands-on lab, where you’ll extract and take home a sample of your own DNA. Explore the fascinating science of genetics and related ethical considerations during a discussion at this session.

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

Celebrating 100 Years of UBC at Point Grey is a “pop-up” exhibit, to be held in the Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre. Dedicated to exploring the UBC student experience over the decades, this immersive visual exhibit uses artifacts, photographs, video, and text to show how student life and the University changed, developed and diversified since UBC called Point Grey home. UBC AMS Archivist, Sheldon Goldfarb, will be offering guided tours of the exhibition at 12:30pm. 

Presented by the University of British Columbia Library in collaboration with the UBC Alma Mater Society, The Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre, and the Museum of Anthropology. 

Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre
6163 University Boulevard
Vancouver, BC
V6T 1Z1 – map

*The Celebrating 100 Years of UBC at Point Grey exhibit will be in the Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre Monday, September 8 to Friday, December 5.

Everyone is invited to join Biodiversity Research Centre (BRC) scientists and partners from across campus and beyond at the BRC Symposium, held at the Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre. Afterward, head over to the BRC building for a networking reception and open house featuring lab tours, a look at the new BRC expansion, partner booths, refreshments, and giveaways.

Wednesday, September 17, 2025
BRC Symposium: 12:00pm–1:45pm; Jack Poole Hall, Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre
Reception: 2:00pm–4:00pm; Multi-Purpose Room 1024, Biodiversity Research Centre

Biodiversity Research Centre
2212 Main Mall 
Vancouver, BC
V6T 1Z4 – map