BC Home + Garden Show 2026 Expands Focus to Culinary Skills with Cooking Stage
The annual BC Home + Garden Show, scheduled from March 12 to 15, 2026, at the Vancouver Convention Centre, is broadening its scope beyond traditional home renovation and landscaping. This year, the event aims to empower attendees by providing tools and inspiration to sharpen their skills, making their living spaces more functional and vibrant. A key highlight is the introduction of the Cooking Stage, presented by Flavour Network, which will feature seminars and live cooking demonstrations from some of the city's top chefs and culinary artisans.
Expert Workshops for Home Cooks
Among the notable presenters is Charlie Holiday, founder and facilitator of The Wild Knead, who will conduct a No Stress Sourdough workshop on March 14 at 2:30 p.m. Holiday's journey into the culinary world began in childhood, watching her mother and grandmother cook, and evolved into a full-time career after experimenting with sourdough at home. Today, she sells home-baked goods at four retail locations in the Lower Mainland and runs homestead-based cooking classes, including her signature sourdough workshop and pickling techniques.
Holiday emphasizes that sourdough baking is not about perfection but about rhythm, attention, and building relationships with the process. "Sourdough doesn't respond well to control; it responds to rhythm, attention, and relationships," she explains. "I teach people to trade perfection for trust, both in their starter and themselves." Her philosophy extends beyond baking, focusing on bringing families together and encouraging a slower, more intuitive approach in the kitchen.
Beyond Baking: Life Lessons from the Kitchen
For Holiday, sourdough is more than just a culinary skill—it's a means to foster connection and mindfulness. "It's bringing families back to the table. It's bringing people to the kitchen, slowing down," she says. Her top tips for success include patience, letting go of control, and using intuition, skills that she believes translate into everyday life. She finds great reward in helping people discover their capabilities, noting, "There's nothing like seeing people light up."
The Cooking Stage at the BC Home + Garden Show will offer a range of practical advice, from sourdough basics to seasonal dishes, all designed to enhance the home cooking experience. This addition reflects a growing trend in home improvement events that prioritize not only physical upgrades but also lifestyle enrichment. Attendees can expect to leave with newfound confidence and inspiration, ready to make the most of their kitchen spaces.
