Ah, the Winter Olympics. An event that happens only once every four years where people cheer for athletes they don’t know, competing in sports that they don’t understand, all in the name of sweet, sweet patriotism.

But if you are in Vancouver during the next two weeks – whether you live there or are just visiting – then there are plenty of free events and cool stuff going on for you to check out. And what kind of Canadian celebration would it be without some great live music? A week into the Olympics, the city has already seen performances from the likes of Nelly Furtado, Elvis Costello, Lou Reed, Buck 65, Malajube, Our Lady Peace, Sloan, Wilco, among others. Toronto-based Dine Alone Records is one of the better represented independent Canadian labels at this year’s Games, with the Arkells, Bedouin Soundclash, City & Colour, and Alexisonfire all performing, the latter who unfortunately had to shut down their Tuesday show after fans caused a barricade to collapse. Moneen’s “Believe” was also selected by the CTV to be included in their Olympic coverage.

With the Olympics running until February 28th, there is still plenty of time to catch shows from homegrown Vancouver talent (Dan Mangan, Said The Whale, You Say Party! We Say Die!), artists/bands who were relatively quiet musically-speaking last year, (Feist, Stars, Tokyo Police Club), and international acts (Damian Marley, Devo, Girl Talk). Also playing are The Stills, Wintersleep, Matt Mays, Jully Black, Sam Roberts and many more!

For a more extensive list of all the shows going on, check out this Facebook event page or head over to LiveCity Vancouver’s website.

And no matter how many medals our athletes win at the end of the day, just remember…