Editor's Note: Globe B.C. has joined forces with Scout Magazine to give you the best of what's happening in Vancouver this weekend. For a full week's worth of listings, head over to the complete Scout List, updated each Monday. See the list in calendar view here.
City: If you're interested in city planning, community building and realistic financial plans designed to strengthen the social fabric, you'll want to head down to SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts to sit in on The Minnesota Series: Original Thinking from the American Midwest. Pulled together by the folks at SFU's City Program, this talk features Charles Marohn, professional engineer and co-founder and president of Strong Towns ("a non-profit, non-partisan organization that helps America's towns achieve financial strength and resiliency"). Grab a seat and be part of the change. Thursday, Oct. 24, 7 p.m., SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts (149 W. Hastings St.), Free sfu.ca
Writers fest: The lineup for the 2013 Vancouver International Writers Festival is pretty sweet, and if you move fast you can still score tickets. Author Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) will talk about his new book Command and Control (this time he takes a look at nuclear weaponry). If that's too bleak for you, don't worry, as David Sedaris will be participating in the festival this year and he could talk about Q-tips and have you laughing. Margaret Atwood will also be kicking around, and so will Douglas Coupland, Anne Michaels and Will Self. Now through Oct. 27, various times, various locations – mostly Granville Island, writersfest.bc.ca
Shrooms: Are you fascinated by fungi? Have you seen wonky mushroom specimens popping out from local lawns and sprouting up in forests and trails round town and wondered what they were? The 34th Vancouver Mushroom Show offers the rare opportunity to hook up with experts from the the Vancouver Mycological Society to ask all manner of mushroom-related questions and nerd out about fungi. There will be oodles of shrooms on display – edible, poisonous, dubious and deadly.
Sunday, Oct. 27 | 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. | Floral Hall, Van Dusen Botanical Garden (37th Avenue and Oak Street)
Magic Realism: The Museum of Anthropology is launching a new exhibition, The Marvellous Real: Art from Mexico, 1926-2011. The show boasts more than 50 pieces of abstract and surreal art – painting, sculpture and mixed media as well as photography, video, and more. Expect everything from classic Frida Kahlo through to Betsabeé Romero, plus just about everything in between. It's always exciting to see a show during opening week, but there's no need to rush. Marvellous Real will be up until March 30, 2014.
Opening reception: Saturday, Oct. 26 | 7 p.m. | Museum of Anthropology (6393 N.W. Marine Dr.)
Parade Of Lost Souls:| Every year on the last weekend of October a shadowy procession of characters meanders softly through the streets of East Van. No one knows precisely which streets the parade will claim until the last moment, but when the crowd starts to gather and the lanterns are lit, the magic spreads throughout the whole community. Inspired by Mexican Day of the Dead celebrations, parade goers are encouraged to join the procession in costume, remember friends and family members who have departed and celebrate life as they wander through dark streets to enjoy pop-up performances, live music and art installations. Check the Public Dreams website or Twitter feed (@publicdreams) at midnight on Oct. 26 to find out the co-ordinates of the parade location.
Sat., Oct. 26 | secret location to be revealed on the day of the event