Everything Olympic

Your Very Own Olympic 2010 Spirit
The Olympics are around the corner, the city will be buzzing so why not throw your very own Olympic themed party or check out the whirlwind of activity at the following venues.

Surrey 2010 Olympic Celebration Site at Holland Park Spirit Square

The City of Surrey , an official partner of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games , will play host to the biggest games-time celebration south of the Fraser. The Surrey 2010 Celebration Site is a 13 day FREE winter festival featuring live entertainment, live Games broadcasts, arts performances and on-site activities. For detials, please visit http://www.surrey2010.com/.

LiveCity Yaletown (David Lam Park – access from Pacific Boulevard in Yaletown)

The False Creek North waterfront celebration site will feature live local, national, and international entertainment on the main stage with musical guests including Wilco, Alexisonfire, the Sam Roberts Band and Blue Rodeo. Giant screens will show highlights of Olympic Winter Games sport coverage and visitors can enjoy interactive Olympic sponsor pavilions from Coca Cola, Acer, Panasonic and Samsung. The new Yaletown-Roundhouse Canada Line station will allow partygoers to be whisked in and out by SkyTrain. Trendy Mainland and Hamilton streets will become pedestrian thoroughfares to link to the LiveCity Downtown site.

LiveCity Downtown (Georgia Street, between Beatty and Cambie Streets)

The old bus depot across the street from the Queen Elizabeth Theatre will be the City of Vancouver’s other celebration site. It was the city’s original field sports venue in 1886 and in 2010 will feature giant screens, live performances, as well as hosting the 2010 Canada Pavilion and the Province of Manitoba’s pavilion. LiveCity Downtown will be open during both the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

Robson Square – GE Ice Plaza (Robson Street, between Hornby and Howe Streets)

The GE Ice Plaza will be one of the major gathering points during the 2010 Winter Games and will feature athlete demonstrations, family events, and BC-focused programming. In addition, Robson Square will be the home of the BC International Media Centre.

Four Host First Nations Pavilion (Queen Elizabeth Theatre Plaza)

The Lil’wat, Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations bands, who collectively make up the Four Host First Nations, will welcome all their relations from coast-to-coast-to-coast and visitors from around the world to share arts, crafts, food, stories and culture in a Coast Salish longhouse topped by a 20-metre-high, air-supported “snowball”.

Granville Island

Vancouver’s Granville Island will be home to Place de la Francophonie (“French Quarter” celebrating Francophone culture), House of Switzerland and Atlantic Canada House. Canadian aeronautical company Bombardier will provide a streetcar to shuttle passengers from the Canada Line’s Olympic Village station to Granville Island. Emily Carr University of Art and Design, which is participating in Vancouver’s “Cultural Olympiad,” running from Jan. 22 to March 21. The series of art, music, and theatrical events will mirror the Games at venues around town. The gallery there is hosting a digital arts exhibit that emphasizes audience participation; visitors interact with the works, such as playing musical instruments using a PDA device. A few blocks away, a master totem-pole carver and apprentices will demonstrate how a huge tree turns into a work of art.

Molson Canadian Hockey House

Located right across the street from Canada Hockey Place, Molson Canadian Hockey House will be a unique entertainment venue and the heart of the hockey world during the 2010 Winter Games.

Grouse Mountain

Located just 15 minutes from downtown Vancouver, Grouse Mountain will remain open 24 hours a day during the 2010 Winter Games, offering snow sports and alpine recreation, including night skiing, to all visitors. NBC’s Today show will also broadcast live from Grouse each morning. Today fans are encouraged to visit Grouse each day to watch the live broadcast and to get a chance to meet Olympic athletes as well as the show anchors. Today will broadcast live each morning at 4:00 am local time.

Richmond O Zone

The City of Richmond will host a celebration site called O Zone just a few minutes’ walk from the new Canada Line stop (Richmond-Brighouse). O Zone will feature multicultural programming, entertainment and the popular Holland Heineken House.
INVITATIONS
Make your own invitations and decorate them with pictures of snow-capped mountains, Olympic atheletes, the Olympic torch, or the Olympic rings. Be sure to title your cards with some catchy like “Let the Games Begin!” or “Official Party of the Winter Olympics!”

FOOD & DRINK
Vancouver is a cultural myriad of ethnicities. So why not order in a variety of party foods from different cultures. A little sushi, Chinese, pizza, and of course tandoori chicken to name a few. As for drinks try the following cocktails created by the bartenders at YEW Restaurant + Bar in the Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver

Gold: Vancouver 2010
Ingredients
2 ounces Victoria gin
3/4 ounce lemon juice
4 ounces cane sugar syrup
Good pinch of fresh dill
4 quarter-sized cucumber cubes
1 ounce smoked salmon on a cucumber slice
Method
Muddle fresh dill and cubed cucumber in a Boston mixing glass. Add gin, lemon juice and cane sugar syrup. Fill with ice and shake vigorously. Double strain into a martini glass. Garnish with cucumber and smoked salmon float.

Silver: Calgary 1988
Ingredients
2 ounces chipotle and smoked buffalo infused Crystal Head vodka
3/4 ounce secret spice (mixture of fresh horseradish, BBQ sauce, Tabasco and Worcestershire)
4 ounces Mott’s Clamato juice
1 piece buffalo jerky
3/4 ounce Triple Threat celery salt rim (onion, garlic, cracked pepper and celery salt pulverized into a dust)
Method
Rub citrus wedge on rim of a classic boot glass and dip into celery salt mixture. Combine infused vodka, secret spice and Clamato juice in a Boston mixing glass. Fill with ice and shake vigorously. Fill your boot and garnish with jerky swizzle.

Bronze: Montreal 1976
Ingredients
2 ounces Alberta Premium Rye
1 ounce Granny Smith apple juice
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
3/4 ounce Quebec maple syrup
(L.B. Maple Treat Single Press 2009)
3/4 ounce pasteurized egg white
Cinnamon sugar
Sliced apples
Method
Pour rye whisky, apple juice, lemon juice, maple syrup and egg white into a Boston mixing glass. Fill with ice and shake vigorously. Serve straight up in a chilled coupe. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on egg-white foam and brûlée the crust. Garnish with sliced apple fan. Do not forget to serve bottled water or sports drinks – and, for the kids, lots of hot chocolate & marshmallows. For dessert, keep it simple and make sugar cookies in the shape of Olympic rings –even get the kids to sprinkle the coloured sugar.

MUSIC
Buy an Olympic CD compilation or search the Web for downloadable songs including the Olympic Hymn and Chariots of Fire.

DECORATIONS
Make a table centerpiece of international flags. Cut out and color five Olympic cardboard rings to hang from the ceiling, or decorate with balloons in the official Olympic colors. Keep little ones busy with snowman coloring pages, paper snowflake crafts and other fun activities of the season, and hang them around the party room to serve as decorations.

PARTY FAVORS
Send guests home with goodie bags made up of Olympic sports posters, international flags or stickers, and spray-painted “gold medals”.