Steveston Village in Richmond is a wonderful old fishing village and cannery, so much so that was featured for seven seasons as the fictional seaside town of Storybrooke in ABC’s hit television series Once Upon a Time.
Steveston has its own unique history, and is now offering a unique dramatic experience in the historic village. With talented actors from Hugh McRoberts Secondary School as guides in period costume, Alive! Walking Tour Vignettes takes guests back to 1917 in a one-hour walk around Steveston, revealing the historical fabric of the place and some of the stories and characters that lived in that period.
During the walk there are five “pop-up mini-plays” featuring stories of early Steveston.
As Sarah Glen the executive director of the Steveston Historical Society observes:
These fun and engaging characters reimagine what life and work was like here over a century ago…There’s an extremely colourful and vivid history here with its own quirks and shocking tidbits—and most people don’t realize it when they just stroll around.
Steveston’s history tells a bigger Canadian story of multicultural communities persevering through hardship and pride in their accomplishments. The Vignettes reflect this but they also show that issues from a century ago are still relevant today. We hope our audiences are encouraged into a deeper understanding of our past—and also discover a new appreciation for what influenced the community we live in.
The Steveston Alive! Walking Tour Vignettes runs every Saturday at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. throughout June and July, departing from the Steveston Museum and Visitor Centre on Moncton Street.
Tickets are $10 and kids under 12 are free. Book well ahead of time, as tours are sure to sell out — they did last summer.