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

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.”