Summer Dreams Literary Arts Festival

Vancouver is rich with weekly and monthly literary events and this festival brings the best of them together. Check out fast-paced presentations by Vancouver Poetry Slam, Word Whips, Poetic Justice, Vancouver Storytellers and many others, partake in workshops, listen to featured readers Joy Kogawa (right), Fiona Tinwei Lam and others, and unleash your own bon mots at the open mic. Park the kids at the Children’s Stage, featuring Max Tell, Jacques Lalonde, kc dyer and others, and stick around for the concert finale by electro-cellist Chris Derkson.

Aug. 24, 12 to 6 p.m. | John Henry Park, Trout Lake

Free admission; pandorascollective.com

Peak Poole Party

With numerous restaurant patios offering ocean and mountain views, Jack Poole Plaza is a great place to experience a free concert. This month, take in performances by jangly folk rockers Headwater (Aug. 23), and melodic banjo slingers River & the Road (Aug. 30).

Fridays: Aug. 23, and Aug. 30, 12:30 p.m. | Jack Poole Plaza

Free admission; burrardlanding.com

Celebrate! Stanley Park

The park’s 125th-anniversary party features five festival zones offering more than 200 activities and performances. Live at Second Beach features six concerts each day by art-pop trio We Are the City, synth-punks You Say Party, Toronto hyper-rockers Born Ruffians, pictured, Juno-winning anthem rockers Arkells and others. Family Fun at the Arch features Bobs & Lolo, Will Stroet and Music with Marnie. Learn about the park’s past at the Memory Lane at the Gardens zone, featuring a Theatre Under the Stars Grease singalong and a fairy-tale performance by Boca del Lupo Theatre (see our story on C5). Another zone features sports, like rugby, cricket and traditional Coast Salish games, and the final zone highlights the park’s diverse nature with guided trail walks, mural art workshops, musical performances and roving entertainers.

Aug. 24-25, 12 to 10 p.m. | Stanley ParkFree (except Grease Sing-along); more information at vancouver.ca/parks-recreation-culture/stanley-park-125.aspx

Pink Salmon Festival

Sample grilled, smoked and Southern-style BBQ-ed pink salmon prepared by former C Restaurant’s chef Robert Clark, right, Rockin’ Ronnie Shewchuk and others during this celebration of one of the most sustainable fish in the Pacific. The festival also features DJ music, fishing demonstrations and a kids’ fun zone.

Aug. 25, 12 to 5 p.m. | Vanier Park

Free; more information at gsenini@psf.ca

Il Volo

Shows like American Idol have given rise to millions of youthful listeners with an appreciation for great singers; this teen tenor trio embraces an audience beyond the usual classical music fan base. Il Volo’s speedy rise to fame began in 2009, when their preternaturally mature performance on Italian TV was seen by Italian hitmaker Tony Renis, who also writes for Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion. “At first I thought it was fake,” Renis tells Billboard. “Three kids, 14 and 15 years old, singing like a 45-year-old man. At the same moment, I visualized everything.” Renis convinced Bocelli’s manager to take on the act, and renowned rock manager Steve Leber (Aerosmith, AC/DC) came out of retirement to handle the boys’ tours. “Il Volo has that same mystique and charisma as the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith and AC/DC,” Leber says. With guest Nikki Yanofsky.