You already know that coming to our Western Living Designers of the Year awards party on September 12 will be an awesome opportunity to mix and mingle with some of Western Canada’s most talented designers… but what if you don’t want the party to end?

Experience-design studio Open Format Studio has got you covered. The folks behind beloved PechaKucha Night creative speaker series have concocted a way to keep the design-love alive post-DOTY with the new Design Vancouver Festival, running September 19 to 29.

exterior of a modern building
Tour the HCMA offices as part of Design Vancouver Festival.

Well, technically, it’s a re-mount of 2014’s Vancouver Design Week, but in this iteration, the celebration of all-things-design stretches far beyond a week, and incorporates a staggering variety of disciplines. The 11-day festival features 66 events with the help of more than 28 designers and studios—think studio tours, design talks, parties, open houses, architectural walking tours, a book launch, rousing design discussions and much, much more.

The schedule includes many of the designers who have graced the pages of Western Living—Propellor is opening its studio to the public, as are Zoe Pawlak, Leckie Studio and Willow and Stump. And if you tire of exploring the cool spaces of creatives, you can hit up an art auction, sit in on one of the Design Vancouver forums, stop into an outdoor Designer Happy Hour, get an architecture tour of Arts Umbrella and just generally soak up inspiration and insights all over the city.

pottery on a table
Ceramicist Janaki Larsen is opening her studio to the public.

We were already looking forward to celebrating design this September—Design Vancouver Festival is just the cherry on the cake. Thanks for creating such a perfect after-party, Open Format Studio. Can’t wait to keep the celebrations going together this fall.