David ByrneGlobe files
David Byrne Bike Forum
Get into gear and join legendary Talking Heads front man and passionate cycling advocate David Byrne - whose book Bicycle Diaries chronicles his two-wheeled travels in cities around the globe - along with green Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson and other bike-minded luminaries for Cities, Bicycles and the Future of Getting Around - a forum about urban cycling hosted by former CBC host and long-time bike commuter Paul Grant. At the Vancouver Playhouse on Sunday (capilanou.ca/theatre).
Yann Martel
Rub elbows with renowned Canadian author Yann Martel - who penned the Man Booker-winning Life of Pi and this year's Beatrice and Virgil - at a unique salon and cocktail reception in a private home near Granville and 16th in Vancouver. Includes a reading, hors d'oeuvres and the chance to chat with Mr. Martel about the important themes that underlie his work. Proceeds to the Jewish Book Festival and the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre (jewishbookfestival.ca).
Satellite Gallery
Check out Vancouver's newest art gallery as the Museum of Anthropology, Presentation House Gallery, and the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery join forces to open Satellite Gallery in downtown Vancouver - a space devoted to learning and experimentation. The opening exhibit features an early video projection of performance art by Vancouver's Glenn Lewis; the opening party also includes a reception, and a performance by Victoria artist Peter Morin that uses a six-metre button blanket to explore indigenous knowledge, community and urban spaces (Saturday, moa.ubc.ca).
Thrill The World
Get decked out in your best graveyard chic and join thousands of creepy-looking dancers around the globe as they simultaneously bring Michael Jackson's Thriller dance back to life on Saturday. In West Van, learn the dance at 1 p.m., then show off your scary moves at 4 p.m. - proceeds to charity (westvancouver.ca). Or take a crash course at the Roundhouse in Vancouver in the morning, then join the big show in the afternoon, where Vancouver Film School makeup artists will be on hand to make you look extra terrifying. Prizes for the Hungriest-Looking Zombie, Zombie Least Likely to Get a Date, Classiest-Looking Zombie and more (ttwvancouver.com). Or join other living dead for Thrill The World at Headliners School of the Performing Arts in Nanaimo (headliners.ca).
She and Him
See silver screen darling and singer Zooey Deschanel ( Almost Famous, (500) Days of Summer) and indie music icon M. Ward as they team up as the lovely She & Him. At the Orpheum in Vancouver Sunday (ticketmaster.ca). For more unforgettable music, don't miss the New York gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello, led by the inimitable Eugene Hütz and featuring members from Ukraine, Russia, Israel, Ethiopia and Ecuador. At the Commodore in Vancouver on Saturday and Sunday (ticketmaster.ca). For more eclectic sounds, check out Bollywood singer Sunidhi Chauhan at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver, and English folk rock band Mumford and Sons at the Vogue - both happening on Saturday.
Ghosts of Victoria Festival
Get seriously spooked in B.C.'s capital - also home to the province's most haunted places - at the Ghosts of Victoria Festival, happening all around the city. Spine-tingling events include ghostly bus tours and walks, haunted horse-drawn trolley tours, a Ross Bay Cemetery ghost tour, Voices from the Past at St. Ann's Academy, the Cursed Cabaret at Craigdarroch Castle, Maritime Museum ghost tours and the Cornfield of Horror at Galey Farms. And don't forget to wander other haunted Victoria locales, including Beacon Hill Park, where the ghost of a murdered woman is seen standing on a rock at sunrise, and the Rogers Chocolates building on Government Street, which the late founders are known to revisit (until Oct. 31).
39 Steps
Bring some mystery, murder and a few laughs to your weekend at The 39 Steps, a Hitchcock spoof at the Arts Club (until Nov. 21, artsclub.com). For more great performing arts, check out Co.Erasga's Shadow Machine, a piece that combines dance, video, audio, photography and other technologies as it looks at Vancouver's industrial development, both past and present. At W2 Storyeum in Vancouver (until Oct. 30, ticketstonight.ca), and Innerspace Dance Theatre's Vessel, which explores the connection between the outside world and our inner selves. At the Roundhouse in Vancouver (Saturday, outinnerspace.ca).
West Coast Women's Show
Meet The Young and the Restless' Jack Abbott, get design tips from Steven and Chris, see the 2011 Calendar Firefighters live, catch a shoe fashion show and watch a performance by So You Think You Can Dance Canada winner Tara-Jean and her partner Vincent at the absolutely shameless West Coast Women's Show at Tradex in Abbotsford (westcoastwomen.net). Feeling more like sprucing up your nest? Don't miss the Victoria Fall Home Expo in the garden city (homeshowtime.com), or the Fall Home Show in Kamloops (bchomeshows.com).
Spooky Tours
Want to give yourself a chill - and not just from the cool fall air? Take a Haunted Deer Lake walking tour that will lead you from the Burnaby Village Museum through 500 buildings and the nearby grounds (until Oct. 30, burnabyvillagemuseum.ca), or walk a haunted forest trail lit by hundreds of jack-o-lanterns, carve a pumpkin, and meet forest trolls, owls and raccoons at Wild Things in the Richmond Nature Park (Saturday, metrovancouver.org). If beings from above are your thing, find out about astrobiology and the search for alien life at Vancouver's H.R. MacMillan Space Centre with Dr. James Di Francesco (Saturday, spacecentre.ca). Want to learn more about the creatures that inhabit our temperate rain forests? Head for Howls and Growls: Creatures of the Great Bear Rainforest, by photographer and filmmaker Ian McAllister (at the Lynn Canyon Ecology Centre in North Van Saturday, and at Bastion Square in Victoria Sunday.