Every city has two histories: the one they print … and the one they don’t. Vancouver is no different – and now you can tour Forbidden Vancouver!
Forbidden Vancouver is a series of fascinating walking tours that explore the seamier, seedier – some would say the more interesting – side of Vancouver’s history.
The Lost Souls of Gastown
Stroll back to the 1800’s and the violent frontier town of Vancouver. Here you will learn of plague, fire, injustice, and murder; from former sailor, gold miner, and ferry captain Gassy Jack, who founded Vancouver with his saloon, to the ghost of John Bray, a Klondike prospector who took three bullets to the head but managed to live on for two more weeks – but who shot him?
Prohibition City
Take a visit to the early 1900’s and walk the streets of prohibition-era Vancouver. Learn what it was like to live under the rule of prohibition: blind pigs, corruption, secret clubs, bootlegging, and the open secret of “medicinal” liquor. Hear the tales of LD Taylor, Vancouver’s infamous prohibition mayor; Joe Celona, the crime boss and bootlegger who ruled East Vancouver into the 1930’s; Chinese entrepreneur Sam Kee, one of Vancouver’s richest businessmen who fought discrimination with lawyers, fists … and guns.
Forbidden Vancouver provides a variety of tours throughout the year – some long running, others “one-off” tours with limited engagements. One-off tours often feature guest guides and locations, such as the “Secrets of The Penthouse.”
Secrets of The Penthouse, scheduled for April 3rd, 2014, is a behind-the-scenes, historical tour of Vancouver’s most notorious nightclub, The Penthouse, with owner Danny Filippone, historian and author Aaron Chapman, and retired VPD cop Grant McDonald, as your guides. What an opportunity!
Forbidden Vancouver’s walking tours take you to the city’s earliest history and darkest corners as no other tours dare. The storytellers at Forbidden Vancouver are like no other tour guides, combining acting, history, and improv-comedy to bring the history of the city they love to life.
Forbidden Vancouver
Forbidden Vancouver also offers private tours for group sizes of 2 to 80 guests. For more information, dates, and contact information, please visit: forbiddenvancouver.ca