BLACK STRATHCONA SELF-GUIDED TOUR
Online at www.blackstrathcona.com
Free
Use your smart phone or iPad to lead you on an interactive walking tour. As you walk the neighbourhood, follow the map on the website with story locations. Use the QR codes on the street signage to download videos to your mobile device and see the past and present of Vancouver’s vibrant black community.
Saturday November 1
THE GREAT VANCOUVER FIRE OF 1886 WALKING TOUR with Lisa Anne Smith
Saturday November 1, 10am (approx. 90 minutes)
Meet at SW corner of Victory Square, W. Pender & Hamilton
$10, pay-what-you-can for local residents
On June 13, 1886, an out-of-control clearing fire destroyed most of the newly-incorporated city of Vancouver in less than one hour. Author Lisa Anne Smith shares stories from her newly-released book Vancouver Is Ashes: The Great Fire of 1886. Revisit the Great Fire with Lisa as she brings to life stories of numerous fire survivors: visit the sites and discover why! Learn how Vancouver rose from the ashes within weeks of the fire’s aftermath. The walking tour will progress from the east end of Gastown, through to the final commentary on the Main Street overpass leading to CRAB Park.
Sunday November 2
RAYMUR MOTHERS WALKING TOUR
Sunday November 2, 1pm
Meet at Russian Hall, 600 Campbell
$10, pay what you can for local residents
Take a walk with Carolyn Jerome and more “militant moms and kids” who participated in the Raymur Mothers’ direct action in 1971 to ensure the children’s safety. The one-hour walking tour will visit main historic points of interest and will share some of the stories that inspired Bob Sarti in the writing of his new play The Raymur Mothers.
CONTOUR WALKING TOUR with Pierre Leichner
Sunday November 2, 2pm
Meet at Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Public Park, 50 E. Pender Free
Pierre Leichner is one of the exhibiting artists in Contour, an installation and interactive community project taking place this fall in the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Public Park by Art is Land Network. Pierre will lead a walking tour of the Park and the site-specific installations. Learn a bit about the history of Vancouver’s Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Park and Garden, the Chinese traditions that inspired the builders, and how both the space and the plantings informed the Contour artists in the works they created. For more information: artislandnetwork.com/upcoming-events-for-conduit
Saturday November 8
DTES RENOVICTIONS WALKING TOUR with Carnegie Community Action Project
Saturday November 8, 11am (approx. 90 minutes)
Meet on front steps of Carnegie, 401 Main
$10, free for local residents
“Renoviction”: it might be a new word but it’s already an old story for many low-income people in the Downtown Eastside. Renovictions are displacing more and more low-income people from the DTES and fueling the escalating rate of homelessness across the city. Join members of the Carnegie Community Action Project on a walking tour of renoviction sites and learn more about how to work to make sure that the DTES remains a low-income neighbourhood.
BLACK STRATHCONA HERITAGE WALKING TOUR with Kevan Cameron
Saturday November 8, 11am (approx. 90 minutes)
Meet at Jimi Hendrix Shrine, 207 Union
$10, pay what you can for local residents
Walk the neighbourhood together, follow the map, use the QR codes on street plaques to access the videos on your, or a fellow walker’s, cell phone and share with each other the black history of the historic East End. A tour will leave at 11am, with special guest Kevan Cameron (Scruff Mouth) who performs in video #5 – Jimi & Nora: Seminal musician with local roots.
Sunday November 9
THE JADE PEONY WALKING TOUR with John Atkin
Sunday November 9, 10am (approx. 2 hours)
Meet at Chinese Cultural Centre courtyard, 50 E. Pender
$10, pay what you can for local residents
The novel The Jade Peony, by Strathcona/Chinatown-born and raised writer Wayson Choy, is much loved by Strathcona and Chinatown residents. The stories in the book are under our feet in the streets, homes and shops throughout our neighbourhood. Join John Atkin, author, historian, DTES/Strathcona resident and walking-history-encyclopedia on this walking tour that brings alive the stories and places of The Jade Peony.