The Stanley Cup isn’t the only competition in town.
As the playoffs continue into June, promoters around Vancouver have had to incorporate Canucks fever into their plans or deal with losing business.
Instead of fighting it, most are going with the flow.
Eat! Vancouver Food and Cooking Festival set up jumbo screens to show Game 5 as part of its planned activities, while many restaurants created Canucks-inspired dishes and cocktails.
Local theatre company ITSAZOO Productions, which performs in unconventional venues – in this case a downtown parkade rooftop – saw their usual audience of 40 plunge to three on Friday night.
“There’s no need to fight it. You just have to go with it,” said manager Chelsea Haberlin, who opened up the space for Canucks fans to party.
Mission residents Kevin Hickman, wearing a Halo costume, and Dave French in a Henrik Sedin jersey, were in town Sunday for a Star Trek convention. The pair had hoped their travel plans coincided with the Canucks.
“We’re here for the convention, but if Game 7 was on right now we’d be there. No question,” French said.
Bard on the Beach just suffered the consequences as artistic director Christopher Gaze said Friday’s show had 200 empty seats. Normally they would’ve been filled had it not been a game night.
Saturday’s UFC 131 fight fest drew 14,685 to Rogers Arena, down from the more than 17,000 seats sold for its first visit to the city a year ago.
