Things to do in Metro Vancouver on the first weekend of 2025 [Video]

The first weekend of the new year offers opportunities to check out some of the festivities you may have missed during December, or to break free from the holiday season and start something new. Or both!

Here are some options to consider:

Japanese-style New Year celebrations

The Nikkei National Museum and Cultural Centre in Burnaby is celebrating the New Year with a variety of free activities drawing on Japanese traditions and customs. 

Guests are invited to try their hand at kakizome (New Year calligraphy), take a music lesson or a Hawaiian hula dance class, taste Japanese tea and play Japanese board games.

The Oshōgatsu open house runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.

Bloedel Conservatory reopening

For the first time since October, the Bloedel Conservatory in Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth Park will welcome the public inside Saturday. 

Now sporting widened and levelled pathways after its closure, the climate-controlled botanical garden is home to tropical birds and koi fish, along with more …