Culture Queue is a monthly calendar of arts and culture events happening on campus and across Vancouver, curated by reporter Selina Hay.
Culture Queue provides a monthly overview of the best in arts and culture, so you can mark your calendar before the late-night IKB grinds begin. This edition will focus on the month of September, with events divided into film, visual arts, theatre, music and community.
Events marked with ☆ offer a student discount, those marked with ★ are free for students, and ✪ means free for everyone!
Film
September’s film lineup features a selection of heartfelt and unabashedly fun stories that place community at the heart of their narratives. My biggest recommendation to movie buffs is to check out the Vancouver Queer Film Festival. The festival is filled with creative and diverse works, exemplified in their opening presentation, Ecosystems Not Empires. It's a collection of seven short films that range in medium and theme. From the animated My Name is Lilith, which deals with sexual trauma, to Abjad Ḥawaz, which celebrates Arabic movement, poetry and language, VQFF asks how queer individuals experience a different kind of world.
☆ Vancouver Queer Film Festival
Date: September 10–20
VQFF celebrates its 38th year, spotlighting 87 films from both local and international filmmakers. Films can be seen in numerous locations including the International Village, The Cinematheque and the Vancouver Playhouse.
Saturday Morning All-You-Can-Eat Cereal Cartoon Party
Date: September 10
The Saturday Morning All-You-Can-Eat Cereal Cartoon Party returns to the Park Theatre. Featuring a lineup of feel-good retro TV classics, you’ll be sure to experience waves of nostalgic bliss. Although the cartoon selections are always a mystery, the Park’s event description hints at a selection of sci-fi, monsters and superhero favourites.
Persistence of Vision Film Festival
Date: September 15 and 16
Mina Shum (Double Happiness), James Liston (Severed) and Julian Clarke (District 9) are just a few Canadian filmmakers who got their start at POV, which will be returning for its 36th year. Catch nine different films being screened this month at the Rio Theatre, all created by upper-year UBC film production students.
Visual Arts
Though summer may be woefully coming to an end, there will be no shortage of colourful creative joys present on campus this September. Back in March of this year, I had the wonderful opportunity to sit down with textile and free-form crochet artist Hannah Ramos to discuss her project Woven Grove. It was just getting on its feet as Ramos began work on a yarn-bomb installation, a unique form of street art where public objects, structures and natural spaces are covered in knitted or crocheted yarn.
The installation is taking over UBC’s Bosque, a wooded area between the Life Building and IKB. Fast-forward to September and the project is at last ready to be unveiled to the public, and I cannot wait to see all the energy, love and time that has gone into it.
✪ Woven Grove Installation
Date: Until October 4
While Hannah Ramos’s installation had its first official viewing on August 28, students can appreciate the artwork all September. The community-driven project features crochet squares from students and community members all over campus and Vancouver.
✪ Jana Sterbak: Dimensions of Intimacy
Date: September 10 to December 6
The exhibition Jbegins September 11 at the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, with an artist Q&A taking place September 10 at 5:00 p.m. Jana Sterbak, a highly significant contemporary artist whose work has been featured in Ottawa’s National Gallery of Canada and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, will have numerous works on display.
The exhibition explores her innovative earlier works, videos, filmographic pieces and drawings, with each piece drawing on contrasts between the personal, political and public life and the delicate line between freedom and dependence. Based on Sterbak’s earlier work, such as her “Vanitas: Flesh Dress for an Albino Anorectic” (a potential inspiration for Lady Gaga’s meat dress), this exhibition will push material expectations and traditional approaches to the selected medium, making for a subversive and enthralling artistic experience.
Theatre
For any student actor, September means busy rehearsal halls and perhaps a few stress-inducing auditions. While student theatre gets back up and running, there are a number of notable productions taking place in September too. One such production is put on by the annual UBC theatre and film alumni-organized fundraising event Beckett 26: It’s All the Same Dream, a performance of selected works by Irish playwright Samuel Beckett. His absurdity and wit continues to be a heavily theatrical influence today, and has inspired the sharp writing of playwrights like Tom Stoppard and David Mamet. Each performance honours a cherished late faculty member and all proceeds support scholarships funds established in their names.
☆ Beckett 26: It’s All the Same Dream
Date: September 17–19
Taking place at the Frederic Wood Theatre, Beckett 26: It’s All the Same Dream places UBC alums back into the spotlight while celebrating selected work by influential Irish playwright Samuel Beckett.
Vancouver Fringe Festival
Date: September 10–20
The Vancouver Fringe Festival returns with its 2026 theme, “Every Kind of Every Thing.” Unsurprisingly, you can find a wide variety of shows at this year’s festival, although The Ubyssey is prioritizing seeing Soul Maker, CULTS and The Grown-ups.
JOB
Date: September 29–October 11
In this psychological thriller play running at the Cultch, an employee for a major tech company is forced to go on leave after becoming the subject of a viral video. She sees a crisis therapist, who she hopes can help her be reinstated to the job that she cares about more than anything else.
Music
There are a number of heavy-hitter musical performers coming in September. Luckily, students won’t have to go far to experience the excitement. Undoubtedly, I am most looking forward to R&B musician Kehlani’s performance at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. Kehlani’s smooth vocal delivery and hypnotic stage presence is sure to capture audiences as she performs her fifth studio album Kehlani.
☆ Silvana Estrada
Date: September 6
Silvana Estrada, a Mexican singer-songwriter, performs at the Chan Centre. A producer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, Estrada blends folk and jazz while infusing Latin American musical traditions into her captivating sound.
Kevin Atwater
Date: September 12
American musician Kevin Atwater’s intimate songwriting style first rose to popularity on TikTok in 2022. At the Fox Cabaret, he’ll be touring his second full-length project, Blush Red.
Kehlani
Date: September 29
Kehlani performs at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Centre with special guests Durand Bernarr, TheARTI$T, Dixson and Waseel.
Community
To wrap up the recommendations for this upcoming month, here are a couple of my highly-anticipated events that focus on joy. I am most excited for the Come Toward the Fire festival, which celebrates Indigenous culture, art and community. The festival includes a diverse lineup of creative expression, from live music to film to skateboarding. Everyone is welcome at the festival, and by playing UBC’s Chan Centre, this community opportunity is especially student-accessible.
✪ Come Toward the Fire Festival
Date: September 18–20
The Come Toward the Fire festival takes place at the Chan Centre. The first day focuses on Knowledge Sharing and is completely free to the public. The second day is the main family-friendly festival and uses a pay-what-you-can structure. Finally, the last day features a closing concert from 6:00–9:00 p.m. for which ticket pricing can be found on their website.
Vancouver is Funny
Date: September 4–26
Vancouver is Funny is a city-wide comedy festival happening all throughout the month of September. Notable performances include Brennan Lee Mulligan, Marc Maron and Josh Thomas. Shows will occur at a number of locations including the Vogue Theatre, Biltmore Cabaret and Queen Elizabeth Theatre.
Creative Writing Taster Month
Date: September 1–17
With lessons in everything from poems to memoirs, if you’ve ever been interested in exploring a new style of writing, now’s your chance. UBC’s School of Creative Writing is running nine free writing workshops with UBC instructors.
That wraps up the September edition of Culture Queue! As students trickle back into classrooms and lecture halls all across campus, my hope is that a few stumble into a musical venture or film festival seat — but alas, that hope is in your hands now, dear reader.
Have any tips for October’s Culture Queue? Reach me at s.hay@ubyssey.ca.
