Halloween at the Gulf of Georgia Cannery

Located in Richmond’s Steveston Village, the Gulf of Georgia Cannery puts on a special event every year in October on the weekend closest to Halloween.

The special event at the Cannery was unable to run in 2020 due to COVID-19. Hopefully it will be able to return for 2021.

The Haunted Sea at the Cannery

Last year, Halloween at the Cannery took place on October 26th and 27th from 11:00 am until 4:00 pm each day. The event had a “haunted sea” theme and the National Historic Site featured a number of extra seasonal and family-friendly activities.

2021 details are to be confirmed.

Admission and Location

The Gulf of Georgia Cannery is located at 12138 Fourth Avenue in Steveston Village in Richmond. This is right at the corner of 3rd Avenue and Moncton Street which is a 15 to 20-minute walk from the Britannia Shipyards.

Below were the admission prices for the Halloween event in 2019 (not including taxes). (Note: Prices are subject to change, so check the official website for exact details.) We expect 2021 details to be similar.

Adults (ages 18 or older): $11
Seniors (ages 65 or older): $9
Youth (ages 6 to 17): $7
Kids (ages 5 or younger): Free!

Members of the Gulf of Georgia Cannery Society also got in for free.

About the Event

For Halloween, the Cannery decorates its space with recyclable materials. In 2019, similar to previous years, the theme was The Haunted Sea.

In years when it does take place, within the event there are kid-friendly Halloween-themed games, crafts, activities and treats, as well as the museum’s regular things to do and see. In 2019 the Richmond Public Library also ran a story-time session in the Kids’ Alcove during the event.

The Cannery also offers special tours for Halloween. There are not-so-scary tours for the little ones and scarier tours for the more daring. Not-so-scary tours led by the Halloween Crab are recommended for kids younger than 7 years of age and they depart every half hour on the hour. Scarier tours also start every half hour, but at quarter past and quarter to the hour.

In 2020, in place of its Halloween event, the museum planned to have a month-long installation called Once Upon A Haunted Sea from October 9th until November 8th. With it they used decorations the museum would otherwise have used for their annual Halloween event this year. In the spirit of Halloween, as part of the exhibit, the Cannery explored how plastics are haunting the oceans, the harm that plastics do, and what people can do to help. Fittingly, decorations at the exhibit were made from recycled and recyclable materials.