VFSS News

It’s that time again! The Friday Climate Strike March, Sep 20 at 12 noon. Vancouver City Hall to the Art Gallery. The VFSS has been designated a spot to stand on the roadside and sing to the marchers — there will be a lot of kids! — as they go by. Same place as last year:…

The Lazy Jacks shanty crew is singing on Sunday, March 3 at the Old Hastings Mill Store Museum. Singing starts upstairs at 2 p.m. until we run out of shanties. So please come along to add your voice or even take a turn to lead one of your favourites. Admission by donation to the Museum.…

Due to weather and road conditions, VFSS is cancelling its in-person event at the Friends’ Meeting House this evening (January 17). Instead, we will be meeting online on Zoom, starting at 7:00 pm. The Zoom link is the same as the one we used for our last few online sessions, and is being sent to our Zoom Info…

As of August 2, the Harmony Jam is returning to the VFSS Wednesday gatherings, starting at 7:20 pm. The Harmony Jam is a singalong that opens our Wednesday night sessions. We are keen to sing together again after the Covid hiatus. Everyone is welcome to join in on these well-loved, easy-to-learn singalong songs. Just get…

[Updated on July 30 to include Harmony Jam warm-up singing at our in-person events.] There are lots of changes to our event schedule and formats starting in May: • More in-person events at the Friends’ Meeting House.• More opportunities to hear and perform 15-minute sets at the in-person events.• Monthly online song circles combined with live-streamed performances…

Our master tech and President, Steve Deering, deserves accolades for delivering our first successful live-stream-to-Zoom event. It was attended by 30 people live at the Friends’ Meeting House and 22 people watched on Zoom. We hope to have more of these events in the future. If you are tech savvy and can give Steve a hand, I’m…

Monday, 27 February 7 pmMel Lehan Hall – St James Community Square3214 W. 10 Ave. (at Trutch) Vancouver Admission Free Rika Ruebsaat’s new book, My Paddle’s Keen and Bright: Summer Camp Stories, has just been published. In honour of the occasion Rika will be leading a camp songs sing-along together with reading stories from the…

Due to the extreme cold (for Vancouver!), hazardous driving conditions, unreliable bus service, and parking challenges at the Friends’ Meeting House, the VFSS has decided to cancel this evening’s in-person Winter Solstice gathering, and host a full-participation Zoom session instead. We hope you can join us there! The Zoom session opens at 7:00 pm (Pacific Time) and the evening’s…

Hi, Folks! We hope you can join us for our traditional Winter Solstice song circle on Wednesday, Dec 21, either in person at the Friends’ Meeting House at 1090 W. 70th Ave. in Vancouver or on Zoom.

Here’s our schedule for the month of June: June 1: In-Person Song Circle at the Friends’ Meeting House, 1090 W. 70th Ave., Vancouver, BC June 15: Online Song Circle on Zoom, featuring The Burnaby Mountain Mamas (Pat Howard, Janie Benna & Rena Pinteric) We hope you can join us at one or both events! Regarding the June 1st…

Continuing with our cautious and gradual resumption of in-person gatherings, here’s our schedule for the month of May: May 4:  In-Person Song Circle at the Friends’ Meeting House May 18:  Online Song Circle on Zoom, featuring: Cliff Rice All the same Covid safety measures that were in place for our last two in-person gatherings will apply…

The feedback from those who attended our test in-person event on March 2nd was all positive, so we’re going to do the same in April: April 6:  In-Person Song Circle at the Friends’ Meeting House, theme: Let’s Sing Together! (again!) April 20:  Online Song Circle on Zoom, featuring: Elizabeth Dunn All the same Covid safety measures that…

Important Announcement: We are holding an in-person song circle on March 2nd — Let’s Sing Together! In light of the recent relaxation of some of BC’s COVID-19 public health orders, the VFSS Board of Directors has voted to proceed with a plan we have been working on for several months now. On March 2nd, we plan to…

Riu Riu Chiu Can you learn one of the 3 parts of this 16th century spanish villancico before we meet again in person? Beware, the catchy tune and rhythm with an extra beat thrown in at the end of phrases can quickly become an endless loop in your aural channels.

You are all most welcome to attend our annual Winter Solstice event, which is online once again this year.  We can only hope next year will be brighter for us all. On Tuesday, December 14, if you are on our Zoom email list, you will get the usual email with the Zoom link, and an…

On Sunday, September 26, 2021, the VFSS held its first online Retreat. Sixty folks attended by Zoom. For archival purposes, here are links to all the information that was emailed and/or posted on our Home page before and immediately after the event. Overview, Schedule, Session Details song suggestions for the Folk Revival of the 50s…

What does the VFSS mean to its members? The VFSS Vision 2030 Committee is out to find the answer and asked members to submit a song that they believe represents what is important about the VFSS. Mary Sherlock wrote:

Admin. Update, June 29, 2024: To ease an upcoming website migration and eliminate duplication, all the posts related to Charles West’s Pickers Circle project prior to April 2021 are no longer available from this website. Those posts can all be found at https://pickerscircle.ca/blog/.

VISION 2030 Workshop: Thanks to everyone who sent in their replies to the question: What is one experience connected with the Folk that really stands out for you? Why? We’ve received some great stories and would love to hear from more of you Folk enthusiasts! We’ve extended the response window to Sunday Aug 9th – please reply to: vanfolksong@gmail.com  and put ‘VISION 2030’…

Each year the snow geese migrate from the Arctic and pass through Ladner where they pause to refuel at Reifel Isalnd Bird Sanctuary. I was inspired to write this song about them. They are a seasonal marker for me, and I love to go and watch them in their hundreds as they rest and feed…

Burnaby Mountain MamasPat Howard – banjo , Janie Benna (harmony) and Rena Pinteric (on mandolin).

Casting about for a way to share some of the good cheer and community that we experience at our Folk Song Society Wednesday evenings, I came upon a recording of a full songcircle that I made back on April Fool’s Day, 2015. Since our songcircle that would have taken place on April 1 would have…

Casting about for a way to share some of the good cheer and community that we experience at our Folk Song Society Wednesday evenings, I came upon a recording of a full songcircle that I made back on April Fool’s Day, 2015. Since our songcircle that would have taken place tonight (April 1) would have…

Casting about for a way to share some of the good cheer and community that we experience at our Folk Song Society Wednesday evenings, I came upon a recording of a full songcircle that I made back on April Fool’s Day, 2015. Since the upcoming songcircle we will be missing would also have taken place…

Casting about for a way to share some of the good cheer and community that we experience at our Folk Song Society Wednesday evenings, I came upon a recording of a full songcircle that I made back on April Fool’s Day, 2015. Since the upcoming songcircle we will be missing would also have taken place…

Casting about for a way to share some of the good cheer and community that we experience at our Folk Song Society Wednesday evenings, I came upon a recording of a full songcircle that I made back on April Fool’s Day, 2015. Since the upcoming songcircle we will be missing would also have taken place…