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Celebration 2010 heads into week two

There’s not much for free in this world but with the Celebration 2010 showcase well under way there’s lots of juicy offerings of entertainment, education, food and wine to enjoy for next to nothing. But wait! There’s a catch.

There’s not much for free in this world but with the Celebration 2010 showcase well under way there’s lots of juicy offerings of entertainment, education, food and wine to enjoy for next to nothing.

But wait! There’s a catch. As long as you realize what all this is for, you’re welcome to attend.

Celebration 2010 is a province-wide initiative supporting both the Vancouver 2010 bid and British Columbia arts and culture, through previewing the artistic and cultural diversity fostered by the cultural Olympiad. It’s a chance for local groups to show the world what they’re made of because after all, the Games aren’t just about sports you know. One of the four official pillars of the Olympic Games movement is culture. So let’s get amongst it.

Here’s a look at what’s on this week:

Friday, Feb. 21, 8 p.m. at MY Place

Whistler Arts Council presents The bluehouse, an Australian all-female acoustic folk group mixing drop-dead gorgeous harmonies with wickedly mouthy humour. The talented Whistler Singers open. Ph: 604-935-8418

Saturday, Feb. 22, 12 — 5 p.m. in the Village Square

A sneak preview of Cornucopia — Whistler's Food & Wine Celebration. Outdoor icewine tasting, Grapes at Minus 8 Degrees, flamenco sounds and an ice sculptor showcase. Tickets are $5 on-site.

Saturday, Feb. 22, 7 p.m. at MY Place

Whistler Museum & Archives Society presents The Heritage of Our Town: Olympic Experiences, an evening with past Olympians from the Whistler area to talk about their Olympic experiences. Admission is free.

Saturday, Feb. 22, 10 a.m. for tots and 11 a.m. for 4/5 year olds at MY Place

Whistler Public Library presents "Dance a story, dance a song, skip, twirl, dance along." A workshop for children with Mary Elizabeth Manley, associate professor of dance at York University. Ph: 604-932-5564

Sunday, Feb. 23, 10 a.m. meet at MY Place

Whistler Arts Council presents the Whistler Art Tour, a free guided tour of Whistler's Art Galleries & Public Art. Ph: 604-935-8419

Sunday, Feb. 23, 1-3 p.m. in the Westin Resort & Spa

Day 2 of the Cornucopia preview with Guilty Pleasures of the Canadian Palate. Tickets are $24.95 Ph: 604.938.2769

Sunday, Feb. 23 & Monday, Feb. 24, 9 p.m. at Uli's Flipside in Creekside

The Whistler Writers Group, and some famous colleagues from

Vancouver, present Literary Leanings — A festival of literature, food & drink.

Sunday, Feb. 23, 6: 30 p.m. at the base of Whistler Mountain

Fire & Ice — Whistler’s Welcome Night. An eclectic mix of music, dance and spinning fire with athletes flipping and twisting through a burning ring of fire. Admission is free.

Sunday Feb. 23 and Friday Feb. 28, 10:30 a.m.

Whistler Public Library presents Storytime, for pre-school children.

Ph: 604-932-5564

Friday, Feb. 28, 8 p.m. at the base of Whistler Mountain

Whistler Dance Academy presents Dance Media On The Slopes. A multi-media contemporary professional dance that includes live dance, video, and slide projection onto the performers and the snow. Admission is free.

Ongoing throughout the month at MY Place are two exhibits. Upstairs is Face to Face, a clay exhibit by Glen McMillan and paintings by Toya Harris. Downstairs the Whistler Museum & Archives Society presents an exhibition of "Hats & Helmets" from past Olympic Games.

Nightly in the village at dusk, the Whistler Photographic Society presents an outdoor digital slide show capturing Whistler and mountain sports by our top professional photographers. Admission is free.

Toasting 2010 with a wine tasting

It’s only fair really – a cork-popping event like Celebration 2010 is the perfect excuse to drink up and Tourism Whistler will raise their glasses with a preview of their successful sell-out festival, Cornucopia.

This year’s food and wine gala is not until November but this weekend will see a small sampling of the grape gathering at its best.

There are two Cornucopia themed events to choose from: Grapes at Minus Eight Degrees on Saturday, Feb. 22 and Guilty Pleasures of the Canadian Palate on Sunday, Feb. 23.

Saturday’s event will be outdoors in the Village Square where for just $5 you can sip icewines, see amazing ice sculptures and listen to the nouveau flamenco sounds of Vancouver's Libre. The showcase starts at 1 p.m. with the public judging at 4 p.m. Partial proceeds will go to Whistler Search and Rescue.

On Sunday, at Guilty Pleasures of the Canadian Palate, enthusiasts can indulge in a two-hour taste-a-thon. Explore the latest culinary inventions from Whistler's hottest restaurants and savour sips from Canada's finest wineries and leading breweries. Presented by the Whistler Community Arts Council, there will be a silent auction featuring two dimensional prints from local artists. This event will be held in the Westin Resort & Spa’s Emerald Ballroom from 1 p.m. Tickets are $24.95 from the Whistler Activity & Information Centre in the Whistler Conference Centre.

Town Plaza comes alive with slides

Make your way to the Gazebo in Whistler’s Town Plaza to catch some amazing action sports and mountain culture images, taken by several of Whistler’s top photographers.

The Whistler Photographic Society has teamed up with the Whistler Arts Council and Celebration 2010 to offer 11 nights of outdoor slide shows. The slide show will feature a diverse collection of imagery that defines the Whistler experience From 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.

Participating photographers include Scott Brammer, Andrew Doran, Tyler Garnham, Brad Kasselman, Randy Lincks and Rory Tucker from Coast Mountain Photography, Greg Eymundson from Insight Photography, freelancers Bonny Makarewicz and Leanna Rathkelly, chair of the Whistler Photographic Society.

"It promises to be an inspiring and visually captivating experience," Rathkelly said.

The Whistler Photographic Society is a registered non-profit organization of professional and amateur photographers. It was established with the mission of increasing the recognition of photography as a form of artistic expression while building a strong sense of community for Whistler-area photographers.

The hills come alive with music

Those crazy choral singers that make up a huge part of Whistler’s entertainment program will be singing where ever they can literally fit this Sunday, Feb. 23. As part of a province-wide choral event, our local singing groups will take up a challenge to sing in the most imaginative places possible. Don’t be surprised if you find Whistler’s warblers on skis or snowboards, in gondolas and chairlifts, in restaurants and hot tubs, in coffee shops, or on buses. You just never know where they’re going to end up.

Choirs have been asked to gather in their respective regions and offer their communities short mini-concert performances. Two special pieces have been commissioned from top Canadian composers Stephen Smith and Tobin Stokes to add to their own repertoire on the day.

Free art tours

The Whistler Community Arts Council, in partnership with Celebration 2010, giving free guided walking tours of Whistler's art galleries and points of artistic interest.

Join tour guide Britt Germann from the Black Tusk Gallery as she unearths the hidden artistic gems of Whistler Village for a treasure hunt you don't want to miss. Sunday, Feb. 23 and Sunday, March 2 will be your last chance to learn the inside secrets.

Tour starts at Millennium Place, 4335 Blackcomb Way, at 10 a.m. and is open to all free of charge.

Writers read

It’s not just music that matters during this art and culture showcase. Books get their big break as well. Uli’s Flipside is the place to be Sunday and Monday, Feb. 23 and 24 for the Whistler Writers Group’s Literary Leanings, a festival of literature, food and drink. Some of the Sea-to-Sky corridor’s best authors will read a selection of their works.

The line up for Sunday Feb. 23 is:

Adam Lewis Schroeder, whose short fiction collection, Kingdom of Monkeys has received glowing reviews across North America.

Nancy Lee’s collection of stories, Dead Girls, was named Book of the Year by Now Magazine and one of the best books of 2002 by the Globe & Mail and the Vancouver Sun. She is currently at work on a novel entitled, Born Slippy.

Jennifer Cowan has written multiple episodes of the television dramas Traders, Edgemont, Ready or Not and scripts for Liocracy, Bob & Margaret and Quads. She also produced and directed the award winning documentary Douglas Coupland Close Personal Friend.

Stella L. Harvey started the Whistler Writers Group and has completed a novel and several short stories that have been published in both the Question and Pique Newsmagazine.

Pam Barnsley wrote for magazines and television and co-wrote Hiking Trails of the Sunshine Coast. Some recent short stories appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. She has just finished a mystery novel set in Whistler.

The line-up for Monday, Feb. 24 is:

Bonnie Bowman’s first novel Skin won the Anvil Press International three-day novel contest, the national ReLit book award in 2001 and was optioned for a movie in 2002. She has just completed her next novel, Spaz.

Stephen Vogler’s book Whistler Features, described by B.C. Bookworld as "a collection of essayish discussions on mountain culture, real estate prices, champagne powder and irritating little dogs in sweaters."

Brandi Higgins is a student in the Creative Writing Program at SFU. She writes essays, short stories and letters to the editor. Two of Brandi’s stories were published in Pique Newsmagazine in the Whistler Writers series.