Events crackdown

Good morning,

I have a new home! Luckily, one of the units I was looking at got back to me. I’m now a proud renter in Mount Pleasant. If you see me, make sure to say hi!

While it’s not directly next to Main or Commercial, it’s close enough to be walkable to each location. Which, if I’m out late into the evening, isn’t a bad thing.

Speaking of late into the evening (how’s that for a transition!), today’s story is all about how Vancouver is bringing the hammer down on music and dance venues.

Let’s dive in.

— Geoff Sharpe, Lookout managing editor

As always, you can send your tips, leads, and story ideas to Nate at [email protected].

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WEATHER

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NIGHTLIFE

No fun city: Vancouver's crackdown on late night venues

Story by Nate Lewis. Read the story online here.

Vancouver is cracking down on underground music and dance venues in the city, pushing promoters and venues back into the shadows, which promoters argue is counterproductive to the city’s stated goal of improving public safety.

Teams of liquor, fire, and city inspectors, along with police, have been coordinating to conduct enhanced inspections of nightlife venues around the city over the past six months. “Enhanced enforcement efforts aim to protect public safety and uphold community standards following increased police service,” Vancouver Fire Rescue Services (VFRS) said in a December 19 press release.

“It was fully giving raid,” Paige Frewer told Vancity Lookout, describing a recent inspection. Frewer is the co-owner and operator of The Birdhouse, a popular queer venue and event space in the Mount Pleasant industrial area. In the early morning of December 13, a team of eight city officials, including four Vancouver Police (VPD) officers, inspected seven venues, including the Birdhouse, and gave out eight tickets for non-compliance with fire and city bylaws.  

Since June, city agencies have conducted 48 coordinated inspections and issued 31 tickets for bylaw infractions, according to VFRS. “The coordinated inspections are conducted in consultation with organizers, operators, and security (onsite) to prevent disruption and ensure public safety. The coordinated approach was welcomed by operators of legitimate business[es] who found the process to be quick and efficient,” a VFRS spokesperson told Vancity Lookout. 

However, Frewer’s experience belies those claims. “They came in really aggressively and pushed passed our security … they were flashing their badges and filming the crowd,” Frewer said. 

The Birdhouse operates under a special arts and culture event license with the city, meaning they can legally hold up to six days of events per month at the venue under specific licensing requirements. While inspections are normal, Frewer said, this visit was “unprecedented” compared to past inspections, which were more like conversational tours with a couple of inspectors. 

“I've been doing this for many years, and we've never had an incident like that,” Frewer said. “It was just weird how they came in so aggressive.” 

“They could have just come in and had a conversation, but they barged in like we were a cartel and they were going to bust us in the act,” Frewer said. The result of the inspection was that the Birdhouse received two bylaw tickets for non-compliance with fire safety codes, which Frewer argues don’t apply under its licensing. 

Frewer has filed a formal dispute of those tickets, and also expects to file a complaint regarding the conduct of VPD officers early this year. When asked about the enhanced inspections, a VPD spokesperson referred Vancity Lookout to VFRS for comment. 

“VPD members were present to ensure safety while conducting inspections in crowded environments where alcohol was being served,” according to VFRS. 

The increased enforcement is causing uncertainty for venue operators and promoters who have benefited from licensing changes made two years ago by city council. The arts and culture event licence – which is widely used by smaller promoters and part-time venues –  was updated to allow for events of more than 250 people and to double the number of days per month, from three to six, that venues could operate.

Vantek Group has one of the largest underground electronic music venues in the city. Its large-scale events, the biggest of which had about 1,200 guests in its warehouse at 236 Industrial. Vantek has drawn positive attention from other clubs and promoters who want to partner with them, but the big events have also caught the eye of the city, Vantek Group co-founder Pau Vila told Vancity Lookout. 

Vantek had to shut down its two East Van venues in early December after the city fined the group several times and eventually pulled its arts and culture event license. Vantek had several enhanced inspections at its venues in the summer and fall of 2025. For Vila, those inspections were pretty similar to other checks they’d been a part of. “There were more people, and they were a little more strict, but nothing more than that,” Vila said. 

Vantek was fined three times at 236 Industrial for exceeding its 800-person capacity and for liquor infractions, Vila said. Vantek’s license is now under review by the city, with no timeline for when the group might resume operations, according to Vila.  

“Inspections are focused on locations identified as high-risk for fire and life-safety hazards, including overcrowding, blocked exits and inadequate fire protection systems,” according to VFRS. Venues were chosen for inspection based on complaints, public reporting, and observations by police officers, VFRS told Vancity Lookout.

Back in the shadows

“With this kind of new enforcement that they're doing it feels like we're taking a step backwards,” Nathan Drillot, a promoter who runs Dolly Disco, told Vancity Lookout.

Over the past ten years, it felt like Vancouver was “finally making some progress in terms of acknowledging that this is part of the culture,” Drillot said of the underground music and dance scene. “It's a positive thing. It helps the city, it helps the economy. It nurtures musicians and artists and all kinds of people.”

Drillot estimated that Dolly has hosted around 200 events over the past three years, but now, in response to increased enforcement, they plan to stop posting events publicly. “We're kind of having to go back into the shadows a little bit,” Drillot said, which he sees as a negative not just for promoters, venues, and attendees, but also for the city’s goal of increasing public safety at these events. 

“If you want there to be safer events, then give us a path towards being able to have proper permanent licensing … If you're really, really concerned about it, the way to solve it would be to enable us to move forward and have legitimacy,” Drillot said. The way to create a safer environment is to bring things out into the light, he added. 

Musical artists – particularly those who belong to marginalized communities – who play at and attend these underground events point out that public safety is emphasized through harm reduction and clear codes of conduct, and compare favourably to permanently licensed clubs. 

“Does the city truly believe that the Granville Street district and its legally sanctioned bars and clubs are safe spaces? I have been attending DIY [do it yourself] events since 2014, and I have consistently felt far safer in those environments,” DR BPM, a local DJ and founder of Drill Events, wrote on Instagram. 

“For many QTBIPOC folks, these DIY spaces are among the only places in this city where we can exist and gather while actually feeling safe. In contrast, the few times I have experienced discrimination or been denied support when facing unsafe situations have always been in legal clubs or bars downtown. Those venues often overlook accountability and community care,” they said. 

Another local artist and promoter who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Vancity Lookout that “the city has always failed to understand these underground spaces provide considerably safer environments than mainstream venues in pretty much every way. Generally the people that work at and run underground venues treat safety as a priority. These are communities that take care of each other.” 

“When they saw that language of safety being used … I think that's what set off a lot of people in the underground community because it's straight up bullshit,” Drillot said. Event and venue operators, including Frewer and Drillot, are organizing amongst themselves and plan to bring their concerns to city officials early this year.

“What we want in Vancouver is to have a rich, strong music, underground, and queer culture,” Drillot explained. “The City of Vancouver should be doing everything in their power to try to encourage youth and young people to create a robust cultural environment … what would be sad to me is that ultimately this could discourage some people from continuing.” 

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THE VANCOUVER NUMBER

50

The number of problematic unoccupied properties that need to be fixed so they don’t fall into disrepair, according to the City. The city is keen to deal with these buildings, as they become a burden on city resources to clean up. [Business in Vancouver. 

THE AGENDA

🏘️ It’s a tough time to own a home these days (if you’re trying to sell, that is). There’s been a huge surge in listings in the Greater Vancouver area, and that’s resulted in the lowest total annual home sales in more than two decades. A total of 23,800 homes were sold in 2025, with a benchmark price of $1,879,800 in December, which is down 5.3 per cent from 2024. Read more. [CBC]

🏪 In response to Sunrise Market’s impending sale, OneCity mayoral candidate Amanda Burrows is floating the idea of a community food trust, where the city would purchase at-risk grocery stores in an effort to keep food more affordable. The land trust would own the facility while a community-based non-profit would run the business, keeping margins low. Read more. [Urbanized]

🏒 The Canucks have a strong contingent of players representing their home countries in the upcoming 2026 Olympic Winter Games. Teddy Bluegar is with Latvia, Filip Hronek and David Kampf are with Czechia, Kevin Lankinen is with Finland, Elias Pettersson joins the Swedes and Lukas Reichel is on team Germany. 

❌ The former Indigenous relations director at the City of Vancouver, who resigned in the winter, is raising concerns about whether the city is committed to reconciliation and that some senior staff and political leaders were not supportive of it. Read more. [Vancouver Sun]

🌲 All those logs you see drifting through the water are actually more damaging than you think. A study in the Marine Ecology Journal notes that drift logs are damaging B.C.’s intertidal zones, reducing important barnacle growth, which impacts aquatic and terrestrial species. Read more. [Vancouver Sun]

🏗️ According to a new development permit, a parking lot at 450 West Georgia St. may be turned into a two-storey grocery building with a store and a pharmacy. Read more. [Urbanized]

🚍️ If you’re travelling to and from YVR airport, you can now catch the expanded late-night service on N10, which will essentially allow for 24-hour service from the airport when the SkyTrain isn’t running. 

HOME OF THE WEEK

Since I’m now planning to live in Mount Pleasant, I thought I’d see what a similar place would cost to buy.

This unit is in a similar area. It’s very nice, with 891 square feet, two bedrooms, a good-sized patio and a modern bathroom.

But the price? Well, it’s not pretty…

VANCOUVER ARTS GUIDE

Performance

​​The popular PuSh Festival is back from Jan. 22 to Feb. 8, with shows focused on dance, theatre and music. It’s a must-see for anyone interested in the performing arts. 

Starting on Jan. 22, over at Granville Island Stage, you can find The Golden Anniversaries, a play about a couple sharing the good, bad and ugly of 50 years of marriage. 

Opera lovers will want to check out Vancouver Opera’s Così fan tutte, composed by Mozart, at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Feb. 7 and 12. 

Comedy fans will want to see True Story. People from the audience share stories, and then the comedy team acts out those stories through improv. Shows are on Wednesdays until Jan. 21 at the Improv Centre.

One of Canada’s most iconic rappers, Shad, will perform at the Hollywood Theatre on Jan. 17 at 8 pm. You’ll want to hurry, though, as tickets are going fast. 

Art

The Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art is wrapping up its NDN Giver exhibition, running until Jan. 25. The exhibit examines themes around potlatches, curated by Haida Nation scholar Amelia Rea. 

The grunt gallery’s latest show is Where Mountain Cats Live, featuring Jenie Ga’s prints, books and table installations, which she says were inspired by her mother. Her opening talk is on Jan. 17. [Stir]

Movies

If you see one movie this month, go to VIFF and watch The Secret Agent, featuring Wagner Moura in his best role yet and set during Brazil’s military dictatorship. It’s showing on Jan. 13 and 20. VIFF is also showcasing a series called New Spanish Cinema.

Over at Cinematheque, you can catch Hayao Miyazaki’s classic Castle in the Sky. And not to be outdone, catch movies like Eddington, The Big Lebowski, Kill Bill and Star Wars I, II and III at the Rio. 

Want to see your event here? Submit them to our event calendar.

TRANSPORTATION

How will people get to and from the growing PNE?

With new events and attractions at the PNE — and the possibility of a whole entertainment district in Hastings Park — there's a need for more transit service to the area. But while plans and studies are underway, significant changes are still a long way off.

Read our exclusive story

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• British Columbians really aren’t interested in travelling to the U.S right now. [Business in Vancouver]

• The Penthouse strip club has been immortalized in a new book. [Vancouver Sun]

• Here were the biggest restaurant openings and closings of 2025 in Vancouver, including the end of my favourite donut shop, Cartems. [Vancouver is Awesome]

• Here’s a deep dive into how Vancouver restaurants are using design to create immersive guest experiences.

VANCOUVER WORDLE

Think you can guess today’s Vancouver Wordle? Play it here.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

As I was walking to the Kitsilano Community Centre, this creature sprang onto the ground, jumping and flapping up and down as he desperately tried to catch a mouse. He didn’t succeed, and judging by the photo, he was unhappy with me watching. He and I hung out for a few minutes, staring at each other. If I were ranking birds, this owl would be number one.

STORIES THIS WEEK