1. Food trucks, vendors, local artisans and entertainers will fill the plaza at city hall during Surrey Urban Farmers Market events this summer, with a season-opening celebration planned for June 10. Musician Braden Daniel will be on the Market Beets Stage, and close to 30 vendors will be open for business — KICS Lemonade, Gesundheit Bakery, Honeybee Centre, Lea Lake Farms, Rocky Point Ice Cream and others. For 2015, until the first week of October, the Wednesday-afternoon market (1 to 6 p.m.) will put an emphasis on health and sustainability, with special “Wellness Wednesday†events held once a month (starting June 17) along with three Sustainability Fairs (first on July 15). For market updates and vendor information, call 778-228-FARM (3276) or visit Surreymarket.org.
2. Speaking of food, another Surrey Greek Food Festival gets going Friday (June 5) at the Greek Orthodox church located at the corner of 132nd Street and 96th Avenue – a place for platefuls of souvlaki, roasted lamb, baklava, bougatsa and more. The church parking lot is the place to be for Greek music and dancing, too, from June 5 to 14 (Monday to Friday from 4 to 10 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 10 p.m.). Parking is a bit of a headache in the area, so watch for no-parking signs and avoid a ticket. One lucky raffle ticket holder at the festival will fly with a friend to Greece. Check it out online at Greekorthodoxsurrey.com or Facebook.com/SurreyGreek (the latter is loaded with photos from the 2014 festival), or dial 604-496-5099.
3. Need a shiny car for your pre-summer cruising this weekend? Consider bringing your ride to a special car wash fundraiser for earthquake-relief efforts in Nepal, on Sunday (June 7) from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Mohawk station at 15970 96th Ave., Surrey. The event is hosted by SOAR Philanthropic Society, a student-run scholarship committee (the acronym stands for Success, Opportunity, Achievement, Results, online at Soarps.org). The SOAR team believes “the citizens of Surrey and Delta will come out and support this cause in giving back to the global community. We encourage everyone to come and be a part of this one-day event to make a difference and enjoy a clean car.â€