Vancouver

Vancouver an open-minded ocean fringed metropolis with a vibrant gay village

City Overview

The City of Vancouver was incorporated on April 6, 1886. The cities’ economy is supported by big businesses.

Vancouver is the capital of the British Columbia Province and famous for being one of the most diverse regions of Canada. It is also nicknamed “The Hollywood of the North” due to its popularity as a filming location for TVs\movies after LA and NYC.

Vancouver has been called a "city of neighbourhoods". Each neighbourhood in Vancouver has a distinct character and ethnic mix with the city is one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities in Canada.

49.3 percent of its residents are not native English speakers, 47.8 percent are native speakers of neither English nor French, and 54.5 percent of residents belong to visible minority groups.

The diverse nature of the resident of Vancouver makes it a very tolerant city, accepting of everyone and you will see gay couples walking the streets hand-in-hand all around town.

The rights of lesbians, gay men, lesbian women, and transgender and queer people (LGBTQ) in Canada are among the most robust and comprehensive in the world.

In 1969, same-sex relationships became legal throughout Canada, and later the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in 1995 that sexual orientation is protected by the constitution.

Later, Canada became the first nation in the Americas and the fourth country overall to allow same-sex unions on a national level in 2005.

This perhaps is not a surprise as Canada is a country rated as one of the gay friendly in the world.

The heart of Vancouver’s LGBTQ community is Davie Village is covered in rainbow flags and offers great nightlife options, an inclusive community centre, large choices of restaurants, bars, clubs and plenty of stores for shopping.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer rights in Canada are some of the most advanced in the world. The Government of Canada has a strong history of commitment to protecting and advancing the rights of LGBTQ people.

Getting Around

Vancouver's public transportation is both efficient and convenient. The Translink system includes buses, the SeaBus ferry and the SkyTrain (light rail), all of which are ecologically friendly, reliable and inexpensive. Regular service runs from about 5\6 am. to around 1 am every day.

Airport Transfer

The YVR Airport Skytrain is an above\below ground subway-type train is the quickest way to get from Vancouver International Airport to downtown Vancouver, with a journey time of approximately 25 minutes. The Vancouver (YVR) Airport Canada Line Station is located above the covered parking garage at the airport.

Places to stay

The West End is a tremendously lively place if you want to enjoy some cool beaches to soak up some sun during your stay in Vancouver as the area is near to English Bay the cities’ most popular and closest to Davie Street the LGBTQ neighbourhood.

Bars, Cafes, Clubs & Parties

Vancouver's gay village is known as the Davie Village, is the heart of the city's LGBTQ community. It runs along Davie Street between Jervis Street and Burrard Street. This is home to the majority of the gay bars and clubs.

There is also a bohemian area popular with the lesbian community at Commercial Drive, called “The Drive” on the East of Vancouver.

Davie Street was the first place in Canada to have a permanent rainbow crossing, proudly installed in July 2013. It is located at the intersection of Davie and Bute Streets. Next to the rainbow crossing is the Jim Deva Plaza, a living memorial to the late Jim Deva, one of Vancouver's best known gay pioneers and heroes.

The thriving gay scene is packed with some really fun gay bars and clubs. Most of the bars become more like clubs by transforming with dance floors as the night gets later.

1181 is a low key unpretentious gay bar in the Davie Village with very poplar drag shows on Sunday evening drag shows provided by some of Vancouver’s finest queens. One of Vancouvers late night spots that closes at 3am.

Celebrities Nightclub is the most popular gay club in Vancouver, with the largest dance floor in the Davie Village. Open since the 1980s. The clubs extravagant light shows, impressive visuals and large dance floor is impressive.

Open only on Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday evenings and closes around 3/4am on these 3 nights.

The Cobalt is a dark, nostalgic, funky underground venue that hosts a wide variety of events from live music and pinball tournaments to art showings and dance parties with drag kings and queens.

Club 816 is an after-hours no alcohol club in Vancouver’s Downtown for those who are not ready to go home at traditional closing times. Queer-friendly and popular with a mix of europop, trance and dance hits.

Fountainhead Pub is a gastropub is visit for drinks, good food and people watching. Its modern interior and gay décor, attracts regular LGBTQ visitors.  The have a whole range of shots with hilarious and provocative names which are popular. Open daily to until around midnight, and until 1am on weekends.

The Junction is a pub with cocktails, drag shows and dancing in the evenings. A relaxed low attitude friendly pub with an outdoor patio and serves great pub food. It is open every day until 3am.

Numbers Cabaret is the oldest running gay club in Vancouver, with live DJs, a dance floor, pool tables, darts and special theme nights. Number is located in   a three-story building with rainbow flags hanging from windows. Open late every night until around 3am.

The Pint is a popular animated sports pub offering cold beer pitchers, classic pub grub and chicken wings in 40 different sauces. With great happy hour specials, this is a good pub to visit to chill or bring a group of friends to have a good time.

Score on Davie is an award-winning neighbourhood hangout serving delicious Canadian pub grub, craft beers and weekend brunches located in the heart of the local gay scene.

Cruise\Fetish Bars

PumpJack Pub is one of Vancouver's most popular gay leather bars that hosts lots of themed parties. Most weekend PumpJack hosts great DJ’s and themed parties such as Underwear Parties, “Bear’s Night Out”, Go-Go Nights, and “Wet ‘n’ Wild Fridays” etc. Open daily until 3am.

Gay Beaches

Since Vancouver is located along the Pacific Coast, they have plenty of beautiful beaches to visit during the summer. But even if you’re visiting in the winter months and you want a natural escape close to the shoreline, these beaches provide fantastic seaside views and neighbouring trails.

Wreck Beach is the largest clothing optional gay friendly naturist beach in North America with a 7km shoreline and sandy beach area. It is located about 15 minutes from downtown and reached by climbing a steep incline.

The beach is fairly isolated but popular as there are exciting, regular events like their Bare Buns Run, Skinny Dip Day, Nude Art Show, and Coastal Clean Up Day.

Sunset Beach serves as a quiet getaway spot for the locals of the West End neighbourhood. However, the all changes in August, when Vancouver holds its annual Gay Pride Festival on the shores of Sunset beach where things tend to get hot n wild!

English Bay Beach is the closest to Davie Village, and offers plenty of unique amenities, that makes it a top stop for visitors to Vancouver. There are kayak rentals, restaurants, volleyball courts, washrooms, and lots of palm trees. Despite being the most popular beach in the downtown area, it’s possible to find a quiet spot to enjoying cocktails at sunset,

Restaurants

Vancouver has some fantastic restaurants to check out for all occasions for just to hang out when on vacation. The two mentioned below are two of our favourites.

Marys on Davie is a 50’s style diner serving delicious food for breakfast or   brunch as closed early before dinner with friendly and fun staff. The highlight of the week is the drag queen bingo!

Honey Salt is the in-house restaurant at the Douglas Hotel serving delicious steak and seafood and divine desserts but closes at 10pm.

Saunas

Vancouver is home to two popular gay saunas.

F212 Steam is a Canadian owned business and hosts Vancouver’s largest hot tub, with a fully equipped gym, wet steam room, rooms with or without video, darkrooms with play areas, dark video room for open play, cruiser showers, a free coffee bar, free Wi-Fi, and a lounge with big screen cable TV.

On Sunday and Monday evenings is the lights out night sessions,  Tuesdays is hunky gym gay gods, and then group parties are hosted on Thursday nights.

Steamworks Baths is a private men’s gym and sauna that has been open for over 40 years, with this brand offering a high-quality experience.

There is a multi-man hot tub, red cedar dry sauna, eucalyptus steam room, automatic motion sensed showers, private rooms including Xlarge and Xtreme rooms and live DJs spinning their signature mix of sexy masculine grooves to get you in the mood.

Main LGBT Events

Vancouver has a bundle of LGBTQ community events all year round kicking off with Whistler Pride in January.

The Whistler Pride and Ski Festival is the original winter pride event having been running for almost 30 years. It is possibly the largest LGBTQ ski events in the world. A gay skiing event might seem odd but Canada gets cold in the winter so a LGBTQ winter sports event make sense.

The event take place in Whistler which is a small town approximately 2 hours north of Vancouver. So, if you like winter sports we recommend attending Whistler Pride.

RUBBOUT weekend is an annual event held in March for men who like the rubber gear fetish. It is a men’s rubber event that has been running since 1991. The event host multiple events such as afternoon brunch, Gear Swap and Puppy Play Parties and more.

Canada has connections to the British monarchy and holds the coronation Ball in March. This event is however an event for the drag community and others to celebrate their set of monarchs, and to elect the newly appointed leaders at the Coronation Ball. The event is an opportunity for LGBTQ community to dress up as gorgeous kings and queens to party whilst raising funds for local LGBTQ charities.

Ignite Festival runs every year at Easter weekend. The event is for gay men and masculine-aligned non-binary people to explore embodiment and intimacy through touch, yoga, meditation and dance.

STRUT walk-a-thon held in June is a walk for drag queens and other to walk a mile in heels to raise money for charity. The event is a lot of fun as all participants are encourages to actually complete the walk wearing heels.

Gay pride Vancouver held since 1978 in July\August is the largest pride event in Canada. Vancouver Pride pulls in roughly 650,000 attendees each year!

August is the month when the Vancouver Film Festival is hosted and the largest queer arts event in Western Canada. The event is an opportunity for all of their contributing artists to showcase their LGBTQ+ films, host workshops, panels and parties. At the end of the festival, they hold a closing gala with an awards ceremony, to hand out the equivalent of LGBTQ Oscars.

Other

Currency – Canadian Dollar (CAD)

Language – English, French

Visas - All EU nationals are considered visa-exempt for stays up to six months but all must complete an Electronic Travel Authorisation (eTA). US citizens do not need a visa or an eTA to enter Canada.

Best Time To Visit – April - October

Timezones – There are six time zones in Canada: Pacific, Mountain, Central, Eastern and Atlantic Standard Time.

Homosexual Activity – Legal