It's Canada Day and, being that the West Coast has no qualms with staying attached to our lovely country, celebrations abound. This year, Vancouver is offering a first: The Canada Day Parade. The parade, with the usual roster of men in skirts, sparkling constructions on wheels, and red-nosed freaks, begins at Georgia & Broughton Streets heads east to Thurlow Street and ends at West Pender Street (non-Vancouverites, you might recognize the name from game-shows of yore). If you're in for something a little less, shall we say, kiddy, you can head over to the big concert at the festival known as Surrey Canada Day. You might not go blind with fun at this festival but you will certainly see a bunch of b-list Canadian performers (that were A-list at one time), including BC's own 54-40, Winnipeg's thuggish darling Bif Naked, Carlie Rae Jepsen, Jeremy Fisher, Kuba Ohms and more. If you're not into the music scene you can always go hang out with some real west coasters at Granville Island because hippies love Canada Day too. Put on a loose fitting floral dress, twist in some dreadlocks, slap on a pair of flip-flops and you're ready for the island fest. No steel drums and pina coladas here; this different kind of island event includes free jazz, pancake breakfasts, seaside lobster barbecues and more. And if you're not a hippy, well, there's always the Robson Street Party. At this event, you can actually be on the famous whopping strip without spending a penny. Featuring Soulstream, a 10-piece, soul, funk and jazz band and Aché Brasil, a high energy Brazilian dance group, the party should keep you stimulated enough to stop the urge to escape and go shopping.

Celebrate Canada Day today, Wed. Jul. 1 in various locations across Vancouver.