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Monday, March 17, is of course St. Patrick’s Day and like many people in Canada I’m a partial long-lost member of the Irish diaspora with two brothers from my father’s side of the family immigrating to Canada from Cork County in the 1830s. 

Nanaimo has a number of events for those who would like to mark the occasion that is seen as an unofficial holiday for many people.  

You can have a punk rock St. Paddy’s Day at the Globe Live Studio with local punk bands, or a more traditional ceilidh with Celtic Chaos and Irish dancing at the Unitarian Hall, or you can split the difference with The Grinning Barretts’ brand of Vancouver Island Celtic punk rock with the Acclaim Celtic Dancers at The Queen’s. There is also a St. Patrick’s Day Dance at the Royal Canadian Legion #10 in Harewood featuring music from Woodstick.  

No matter how you choose to mark the occasion, I hope the music, chat and craic are grand.

Thank you for reading,

Mick Sweetman

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🔎 Watch for🔎

Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn will play The Port Theatre on Wednesday, March 12 at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $77.

Got the inside scoop of an event you think should be shared? 

Let us know by sending Mick an email.

🎵 Listen 🎤

Wednesday, March 12, 7 p.m.: Join<> Nanaimo poet laureate Neil Surkan and special guests for an evening of poetry in the Vancouver Island Conference Centre Piper's Lagoon Lobby. Admission is free.

Wednesday, March 12, 8 p.m.: Bruce Cockburn will play The Port Theatre. Tickets cost $77. 

Thursday, March 13, 7 p.m.: Five Alarm Funk and Blasé Blasé will play at The Queen’s. Tickets cost $30 in advance or $35 at the door. 

Thursday, March 13, 7 p.m.: Pit Props, Spencer Jo, Broken Egg and Juniper Jones will play at The Globe Live Studio. Tickets cost $15. 

Thursday, March 13, 9 p.m.: Conductor Karl Hirzer will play piano and synth with cellist Josué Valdepeñas to two films Crystal Clear by Braden Dereniwski and In Tandem by Vicki Can Chau at The Vault Cafe. 

Friday, March 14, 7 p.m.: Bob Log III, Caveman & The Banshee and Lords Of Apathy, will play The Globe Live Studio. Tickets cost $20. 

Friday, March 14, 9 p.m.: The Skye Douglas Project will play original contemporary jazz music at The Vault Cafe. Tickets cost $20.

Saturday, March 15, 7 p.m.: The Skye Douglas Project will play at the Gabriola Golf Course. Tickets cost $20.

Saturday, March 15, 8 p.m.: Hypno Jerk album release party with Ida Maidstone, DJ Omoroca (DnB) and Marcus A M Hastings at The Globe Live Studio. Tickets cost $15.

Saturday, March 15, 9 p.m.: Soul Train Motown dance party with DJ Chaz at The Nanaimo Bar. Tickets cost $10.

Saturday, March 15, 9 p.m.: Nanaimo Drag presents “Drag Me to the Arcade!”, a video game inspired drag show at The Vault Cafe. Tickets cost $20. 

Saturday, March 15, 10 p.m.: Brayden King plays at The Queen’s. Tickets cost $20. 

Saturday, March 15, 6 p.m.: Terell Safadi, ATO-MIK, Mr. ESQ and Alick Mac will bring their hip-hop tour to the Green Olive Room at the Old City Station Pub. Tickets are $20.

Monday, March 17, 6 p.m.: Woodstick will play a St. Patrick’s Day Dance at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch #10. Tickets cost $10.

Monday, March 17, 6 p.m.: Have a punk-rock St. Patrick's Day with Danger Box, Razorvoice, and We Are Not a Cult at The Globe Live Studio. Tickets cost $15. 

Monday, March 17, 7 p.m.: The Grinning Barretts will bring their Celtic punk rock to The Queen’s with a special performance with the Acclaim Celtic Dancers. Tickets cost $10.  

Monday, March 17, 7:30 p.m.: Celtic Chaos will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with a ceilidh evening with stories, singalongs, tunes and Irish dancing at the Unitarian Hall. Tickets cost $30.

🎭 View 🖼️

Tuesday, March 11, 7:30 p.m.: Part confession, part documentary, part open conversation, Yes Yes Yes is a theatre show created for youth that explores the knotty and necessary topics of healthy relationships, consent and desire at The Port Theatre. Tickets cost $30 or $19 for students. 

Wednesday, March 12 to Saturday, March 15, 7:30 p.m.: VIU’s theatre department presents Shakespere’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Malaspina Theatre. Tickets cost $10. 

Thursday, March 13, 4 p.m.: An artist reception for Trish Shwart’s exhibit IRL will take place at The View Gallery at Vancouver Island University.

Friday, March 14, noon: Victoria artist Trish Shwart will talk about her new painting exhibit IRL at The View Gallery at Vancouver Island University.

Friday, March 14, 7:30 p.m.: The Around Town Tellers presents a live storytelling with the theme Call of the Wild at the Unitarian Hall. Tickets cost $10 at the door.

Saturday, March 15, 2 p.m.:  Dale Colleen Hamilton will perform her one-woman show and conversation about regenerative food growing and climate solutions at the Beban Park Social Centre. Tickets are free. 

⛹️ Meet 🎲

Thursday, March 13, 7 p.m.: The Nanaimo Historical Society will hold its annual general meeting at the Bowen Complex in activity room one. There will be a presentation by The Nanaimo Family History Society on its current project to produce a map of Nanaimo in 1921.

Friday, March 14, 7 p.m.: The Nanaimo Clippers will play the Alberni Valley Bulldogs at Frank Crane Arena. Tickets cost $20. 

Saturday, March 15, 7 p.m.: The Nanaimo Clippers will play the Cowichan Capitals at Frank Crane Arena. Tickets cost $20. 

Sunday, March 16, noon: Lions free skate at Frank Crane Arena.

Sunday, March 16, 1 p.m.: Create your own stamps out of plasticine and then make some printed pictures at the Nanaimo Art Gallery. Tickets cost $5 for non-members.

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