VMF2021 Neighbourhood: Mount Pleasant

Mount Pleasant is one of Vancouver’s oldest neighbourhood’s, home to a wonderful collection of heritage buildings and the many stories that follow them. Residential in part, Mount Pleasant is a dynamic area with a wide range of unique businesses, commercial storefronts, and food spots. Spanning False Creek southeast and up towards the Mount Pleasant shopping district, where Broadway, Kingsway, and Main Street meet, the neighbourhood covers a generous area of land.

If you’re on the look out for a variety of great alternative eats, Main street is the place to go. The Acorn, MeeT on Main, and Burdock & CO. are just a few of the vegetarian options worth pursuing. For the non-vegetarians, there’s an equally outstanding selection of eclectic eats ranging from middle eastern to Jamaican. When it comes to shopping, Mount Pleasant has some of the best vintage and second hand stores in all of Vancouver - you’re bound to find something eccentric and fun.

Coffee lovers rejoice, Mount Pleasant is home to a selection of some of the city’s most loved coffee shops and cafes. 49th Parallel Café & Lucky’s Donuts, Modus, and Elysian Coffee are all worth a sip. For something a little stronger, Main Street Brewing Company, R&B Brewing and 33 Acres Brewing are definite must-visits, all honouring the historic past of Brewery Creek. Can you tell this is the perfect neighbourhood to plan a full day around food, beverages, and murals?

Indigenous mural of three baby birds by Steve Smith — This year was an undeniably challenging year, bringing with it a renewed sense of urgency for conversations surrounding mental health and community. Ariel Buxton, an artist painting with VMF this festival, is working alongside Rabble Rousers, a community engagement program composed of members from the Coast Mental Health’s Young Adult Program. The Rabble Rousers’ mission is to prioritize raising awareness for young people’s experiences navigating mental health challenges and their systems. This mural, titled *Courage,* is meant to symbolically represent the kids’ own interpretations of courage. Ariel Buxton, a Vancouver based artist, is currently focused on getting her Ph.D. in psychology which has led her to create murals for organizations in the mental health sector.
Another one of our 2021 Mount Pleasant murals is being painted on the Polish Consulate. *The Reflection*, as it’s poignantly titled, celebrates the writer Stanislaw Lem - a well loved Polish science fiction author and essayist. In his novel Solaris, Lem wrote: “How do you expect to communicate with the ocean when you can’t even understand one another?” In Dimitri Sirenko’s mural design, the ocean represents the otherworldly and unknowable, with an astronaut as both the explorer and questioner.

ENTER TO WIN THE MOUNT PLEASANT PRIZE GIVEAWAY:

Discover Vancouver’s diverse neighbourhoods while having a chance to win some incredible prizes! This summer, participating neighbourhoods are generously providing gift packs curated from local businesses in their area. Download the VMF App and use the interactive map to help you find this year’s new murals and more across Vancouver!

Enter to WIN the Mount Pleasant prize giveaway that includes a Fjallraven backpack, $50 to Les Faux Bourgeois, $50 to Anh + Chi and a gift card to Como with the instructions below: