6 Holiday-Themed Events to Attend with UBC

If you’re looking for some festive events to attend this holiday season, we’ve got you covered. From family wreath-making to classical music, UBC has a wide range of holiday-themed events to check out.


December 7: UBC Fiddle Club Holiday Session

Do you play the fiddle, or a different kind of folk-friendly instrument (i.e. piano, guitar, mandolin, flute, Irish drum, stand-up bass, banjo etc.)? This free jam session will be combination of fiddle tunes and Christmas music to get you in the mood for the holiday season. This event is open to all, but any fiddle players out there are encouraged to come meet other musicians, take a break, and destress during the exam period!

When: 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Where: UBC School of Music, meet in lobby

Cost: Free

December 8: Kids Wreath Workshop 

This festive workshop is designed for children ages 6-12 to learn how to make their own festive wreaths using plant materials from the Garden. The 2.5-hour workshop will guide children to build a wreath for your door or table. Also included in the workshop is a walking tour in the Garden, highlighting the plants featured in our wreaths. Additional wreaths are for sale at the Shop in the Garden during the holiday season.

When: 9:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Where: UBC Botanical Garden, Reception Centre

Cost: $40 per child + one adult chaperone

December 8: Feliz Navidance: A Latin Christmas

The UBC Latin Dance Club is bringing to you a Christmas formal to remember. Join them to celebrate the Holidays the only way Latinos know how: lots of food, and warm company. This event has a formal dress code, and will feature great food, amazing performances, a photo booth, and lots of dancing!

When: 6:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.

Where: UBC Nest Great Hall South

Cost: $20 for members, $25 for non-members; $30 at the door

December 12: UBC WinterBang! Festival

The annual WinterBang! Festival is a day of electroacoustic music and dance featuring the UBC Laptop Orchestra, an ensemble in which students code their own computer instruments or audio/video processes. Come out for free presentations of their work from this semester at this winter-themed festival.

When: 12:00 p.m.: Electroacoustic Music; 2:00 p.m.: Capstone Presentations; 7:30 p.m. Interactive Music and Dance

Where: Barnett Hall

Cost: Free

December 21 – 22: Vivaldi’s Four Seasons presented by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra

Hailed as one of the most significant artists of his generation, young American violinist Benjamin Beilman makes his VSO debut leading a performance of Vivaldi’s timeless classic, The Four Seasons, in an enduring VSO holiday season tradition.

When: 8:00 p.m.

Where: Chan Shun Concert Hall, The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts

Cost: $22.00 – $72.00

December 23: Festive Cantatas: A Monteverdi Christmas Vespers

With violins, cornetti, sackbuts, theorbos, keyboards, and voices, EMV’s Christmas presentation this season recreates the lavish celebration of Christmas Vespers from the Church of San Marco in 17th-century Venice, with music by the incomparable Claudio Monteverdi!

Featuring works from his 1641 collection of sacred music, the concert will resound with the glorious sounds of a Christmas celebration you won’t soon forget. Gloria in excelsis!

When: 3:00 p.m.

Where: Chan Shun Concert Hall, The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts

Cost: $20.50 – $80.50


Looking for more events to attend in December? Check out our top ten list for some ideas. And to stay up-to-date with all campus events, follow @UBCevents on Twitter.