Tombolo is bringing its Children’s Art Gallery and Storybook Museum back to East Vancouver for a third year running, popping up at Kingsgate Mall from September 18 to 27. If you’ve got a kid who draws on every surface they can reach, this is the kind of event built exactly for them.
A pop-up with real staying power
Three years running is a track record, not a one-off. It means Tombolo has figured out something a lot of family programming misses: kids’ art deserves an actual gallery treatment, not just a fridge-door display. Framing children’s work as a “storybook museum” instead of a craft table changes how kids experience their own creativity — it tells them the thing they made is worth walking through, worth looking at closely, worth taking seriously.
The Kingsgate Mall setting matters too. East Vancouver doesn’t always get the same density of family-facing arts programming as the West Side, and putting a pop-up gallery inside a mall — a space families are already moving through on a Tuesday errand run — is a smart way to catch an audience that a ticketed gallery opening downtown never would.
Worth the trip if:
- You’ve got kids who need an outlet for their art beyond the fridge door
- You’re looking for a low-pressure family outing that doesn’t require a full day of planning
- You want to support East Vancouver community programming that isn’t downtown-centric
Confirm exact hours directly with Kingsgate Mall or Tombolo before you go, since pop-up programming can shift closer to the date — but September 18 to 27 is the window to keep on your radar.
Shop Local: Our Bestsellers Right Now
Shades of YVR Science World Graphic Hoodie
Heavyweight, oversized, and stamped with a Science World print that’s unmistakably Vancouver — 500gsm cotton built for the city’s grey days and made to actually last.
Shades of YVR Vancouver Downtown Graphic Hoodie
Rep downtown YVR without saying a word — relaxed streetwear fit, heavyweight cotton, and a graphic that says you’re actually from here.
