I love digging into Vancouver’s history (as evidenced by my 1,000 plus posts about local history on this site) so when Will Woods first came along with his Forbidden Vancouver Walking Tours about five years ago, I was very excited to see that it would be shared with locals and visits alike, in a creative way.
Forbidden Vancouver Walking Tours
On the website Woods writes: “We tell the stories that don’t make it onto the tour buses – tales of crime, corruption, and sin. As former mayor and all-round rogue L.D. Taylor once said: ‘We’re a port city. This ain’t no Sunday School town!'”
Today, Forbidden Vancouver has grown, with 12 guides who have hosted over a thousand walking tours and held special events at famous venues like the Penthouse and the Commodore. The two main tours they operate are The Lost Souls of Gastown and Prohibition City, which start up again in March.
If your idea of adventure is following your guide down lamplit alleyways, back to a world of illegal booze, opium dens, and unsolved murders, then you’ve come to the right place.
Tour:Lost Souls of Gastown Running: Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays (starting March 3, 2017) Details: Venture into Vancouver’s earliest and most gruesome history on the Lost Souls a Gastown. A time when Vancouver was the Granville Townsite – wild frontier town that suffered a devastating fire, smallpox outbreaks, and unsolved murders.
Designed for adult audiences, the Lost Souls of Gastown is both a walking tour and a theatre piece. Created by Forbidden Vancouver’s Chief Storyteller Will Woods – and based on documented Vancouver history – the plot weaves through back streets and alleyways to a dramatic finale in the heart of Gastown’s Maple Tree Square.
Tour:Prohibition City Running: Every day (starting April 1, 2017) Details: Delve into Vancouver’s dirtiest secrets on this scandal fuelled walking tour. Starting in the world of the saloon, you trace the story of prohibition in Vancouver while winding along the city’s most storied streets. You’ll hear tales of blind pigs, corrupt mayors, and enterprising bootleggers. Plus you’ll see first hand evidence of opium dens and walk down an alleyway once teeming with over 40 “bawdy houses.”
Along the way you’ll see some of the city’s greatest heritage buildings like the Sun Tower and the Dominion Building, which once battled to become the tallest building in the British Empire. The tour finishes in Gastown, steps from the city’s most talked about bars and restaurants.
I was honoured to review & endorse Forbidden Vancouver’s Secrets of the Streets.
[clickToTweet tweet=”RT to enter to win a @Forbidden_Tour http://owl.li/NUOw309dDYw” quote=” Click to enter via Twitter” theme=”style6″]
I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Wednesday, March 1, 2017. Follow Forbidden Vancouver on Facebook, and Twitter for more info.
Huka Entertainment is pleased to announce that Pemberton Music Festival, Canada’s biggest camping, music and comedy festival, will return for its fourth consecutive year on Thursday, July 13 through Sunday, July 16, 2017. Last year’s event drew more than 180,000 fans to the most beautiful place on earth and featured more than 100 performances over four days.
Pemberton Music Festival
A limited supply of Early Bird tickets, which enable fans to purchase advance festival passes at a discount before this year’s lineup is announced, go on sale Thursday, February 23, 2017 at 10:00am PST online.
Early bird ticket prices start at $299 CAD plus the option to buy a camping and parking pass during the early bird period. In the coming weeks, during advance and regular on sales, all campers will be required to purchase a camping bundle that includes 1 to 4 festival passes and either a parking pass or Pemberton’s new rideshare option.
For those electing to stay in nearby Whistler where accommodations from the luxurious to the affordable abound, shuttle passes are required to be purchased in a bundle along with festival tickets.
Fans are encouraged to plan early, demand is likely to increase, space is limited and early bird tickets will go fast. The Pemberton Music Festival was ranked as a Top Ten Worldwide Grossing Festival, according to industry trade magazine Pollstar in 2016.
Women in Tech Week is coming up February 27th to March 3rd, with events around North America and several right here in Vancouver. The goal is to encourage women to take on new challenges in the tech industry by educating, inspiring, and exploring new opportunities.
Women in Tech Week Vancouver
On Monday, February 27, 2017 there is the Breakfast Kickoff: Bringing Out The Big Guns, featuring Dawen Nozdryn-Plotnicki, Advanced Analytics Director at Boeing. Each day that follows will have a lineup of workshops and networking events.
These types of events are near and dear to my heart. I built my first website in 1997, while still in high school, and my career in online media started in the year 2000. I’ve owned my own website development shop since 2008, and published the city’s most award-winning blog since 2004. I’m a woman in tech, and I also know how important it is to engage girls of all ages in wonders of engineering, coding, and so much more that the future can hold for them.
A general admission WINtech pass ($90, purchase by February 26) will get you into all of the week’s events. To get involved with the upcoming Women in Tech Week, follow WINtech on Facebook and Twitter.
This spring you can stay in shape, and get entry into one of the city’s top attractions, as you climb up 633 steps at the Urban Grind at Harbour Centre.
Urban Grind at Harbour Centre
Where: Harbour Centre Lobby (555 W Hastings St) When: Every Tuesday in March from 4:30pm to 6:30pm
$5 includes unlimited circuits between 4:30pm to 6:30pm, access to the Vancouver Lookout, one beer and DJ entertainment at the top. Climbers will also receive a $5 Harbour Centre Food Court voucher.
Climbers have the ability to customize their workout by completing the route as many times as they like during the allotted time. You can also stay at the top and enjoy 360 degree views of the city from the Vancouver Lookout.
New this year, BC’s very own elite Tower Runner, Shaun Stephens-Whale will be on site on March 7, 14 and 28 to give his stair climbing tips. His most recent accolades include winning the 2017 Rainier Tower Fight for Air Climb in Seattle, and placing third in the Climb to Abu Dhabi Vertical Marathon and third in the Empire State Building Run-Up.
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by Rebecca BollwittDisclosure: Sponsored Post — This post is sponsored by Polar Ice Vodka Please review the Policy & Disclosure section for further information.
Where’s the bear? Polar Ice Vodka’s limited edition bearless bottle has hit store shelves this month. Their iconic polar bear logo has been removed from bottles to raise awareness for Polar Bears International’s mission to keep the magic of Canada’s arctic alive for generations to come.
Scientists predict that as the Arctic continues to warm, two-thirds of the worlds polar bears will disappear within this century. Polar Ice Vodka and Polar Bears International (“PBI”) are working to reverse this trend. Polar Bears International is the only conservation organization whose sole passion and focus is on polar bears.
The primary conservation concern for polar bears is habitat loss and reduced access to their primary prey due to climate change. PBI’s mission is to conserve polar bears and the sea ice they depend on.
Polar Ice Vodka Cocktail Recipe
To get the most out of your Polar Ice Vodka, I have picked out two recipes that will taste delicious, for a cause.
Ice Pick
1 ½ oz. Polar Ice Vodka
6 oz. Iced Tea
Lemon Juice
Moscow Mule
1 ½ oz. Polar Ice Vodka
3 oz. Ginger Beer
¼ oz. Lime Juice
1/2 oz. Simple Syrup*
*(or a teaspoon of sugar)
1 Slice of Lemon or Lime
Share for Support
On Monday, February 27th, which is International Polar Bear Day, I will introduce a one-day fundraising campaign that will support the cause. Stay tuned!
UPDATE It’s February 27th, International Polar Bear Day! For every share & RT this gets on Facebook & Twitter, Polar Ice Vodka will donate $1 to Polar Bears International*!
Engage online this month using #SaveOurSeaIce and following Polar Ice Vodka on Twitter and Facebook. Through media, science, and advocacy, the work to inspire people to care about the Arctic, the threats to its future, and the connection between this remote region and our global climate.
Please enjoy responsibly. Must be 19+ *Donation up to $500.
$5 includes unlimited circuits between 4:30pm to 6:30pm, access to the 
Where’s the bear? 
