STRUT THAT STROLL: A Walking Tour of Calgary's Historic Sex Industry
Adventure back to Calgary's early days, when our city was notorious as the booze, brothel, and gambling capital of the Canadian West.
Join tour guide and MRU professor Kim Williams for a fascinating journey through our city's historic adult consensual sex industry. Learn about the people, places, and politics that shaped our city's downtown, East Village, Victoria Park, Bridgeland, and Inglewood neighbourhoods.
From "bawdy houses" to moral crusades to the Calgary Stampede, this in-person event offers a fascinating glimpse into a hidden chapter of our city's past, shedding light on a complex intersection of commerce, culture, and controversy while calling attention to the crucial role sex workers played in making Calgary the city we know today.
ABOUT THE TOUR
We'll set off from the Famous Five Statue. The closest C-Train station is City Hall, and the nearest cross street is 8th Avenue SE @ 1st Street SE.
We'll walk at a comfortable pace and make several stops. Our journey will take us mostly backwards in time (but away from the west-setting sun) from the early 20th C to the 1870s. We'll head north on Centre Street past Calgary's last official "red light district" before heading east along the south bank of the Bow toward Fort Calgary.
After a quick rest stop at the Simmons Building, we'll turn south to walk through the East Village. Once we get to "Whiskey Row" (a.k.a. 9th Ave SE), we'll turn west and make our way back to within a block of where we started.
Learn more at yycsexworkwalkingtour.weebly.com.
COST:
Pay What You Can donation to Shift Calgary. Cash ONLY will be accepted on-site.
Suggested minimum donation is $20, but no one will be turned away. All are welcome!
DURATION:
Approx. 2 hours | DISTANCE: Roughly 4km | LEVEL 1: Easy | GROUP SIZE: 12
For larger groups please contact me to plan your tour.
The tour takes place in Treaty 7 Territory, where the Elbow River meets the Bow, on the hereditary homelands of the Niitsitapi (the Blackfoot Confederacy: Siksika, Piikani, and Kainai), the Îyârhe Nakoda (Wesley, Chiniki, and Bearspaw) and Tsuut'ina Nations, and of the Métis Nation of Alberta, Districts 5 and 6.
