Sunset seeping in through the mill’s 14,416 panes of glass added to the dramatic glow of Homo Hardware’s iridescent, shimmering wings.
Photo: Amber Bracken / The Narwhal
A drag show? In an old copper mine — during Pride Month? Uhhh, yes, please!
When Francesca Fionda, head of newsroom development and former mining reporter, saw an Instagram post about a special event taking place in the former Britannia Mine site, just an hour north of Vancouver, she knew she had to go. So she tapped photo editor Amber Bracken, who happened to be in Vancouver: “Wanna check out a drag show in a mine with me?”
The duo went along (without me, since I just had to go camping that weekend … ) to document a stunning evening at Mill No. 3. At its peak in the ’30s, the mill helped produce a whole lotta copper, and the environmental impacts weren’t top of mind. Production stopped in 1974, and by the late ’90s, it was considered the worst source of metal pollution in North America.
“The damage it caused to local waterways wasn’t insignificant,” Francesca told me. For now and the foreseeable future, it costs the public an estimated $3.7 million annually just to stop more pollution from leaching into Howe Sound.
The site is now home to the Britannia Mine Museum, where visitors can learn the story of the mine and its impacts — including the work that’s left to be done.
Here, artists like Homo Hardware, Peter Packer and Rose Butch took to the stage and paid homage to that history — and created their own — by turning it out to tunes by Owl City, Loverboy and Hilary Duff. And luckily for us, Amber captured the full performance, with photos so bewitching you’ll have to take a look yourself.
“Part of the fun was trying to find where Amber would pop up next,” Francesca said. “Is she crouching in the crowd? Is she by the sound booth? She’s backstage with artists about to go on? Oh, now she’s on one of the upper levels of this 20-storey, century-old mill!”
One of the museum’s directors, Derek A. Jang, told Francesca he hopes the event, and the museum, can help signal to young people that solutions are within reach; that they’re not just inheriting a broken world.
It’s fitting, then, that the queer community — one that continues to endure ongoing attacks for simply existing, but doesn’t back down from a fight — would take a site with a complicated history and turn it into something joyful. But I won’t give too much more away. Go check out the piece here.
Take care and don’t be a drag — just be a queen,
Karan Saxena
Audience engagement editor
How to live in a restless world
“Humans are incredibly adaptable — but we crave certainty. We intuitively cling to patterns we’ve seen before to guide our expectations about what a day, month or year might bring. We plan around those expectations: picnics and road trips, soccer games and barbeques.”
In an astounding new essay, northwest B.C. reporter Matt Simmons shares words of hope: that we can live in a world of uncertainty without abandoning ourselves to apathy, anxiety and fear.
We hope you’ll give it a read, or give it a listen — as a rare treat, Matt read the essay aloud so we can all hear his comforting voice speak these comforting words.
This week in The Narwhal
Check yourself — or someone else: 2026 is the summer of ticks By Elaine Anselmi
Ticks are finding new corners of Canada and driving fear of rising cases of Lyme disease into the outdoorsy — and not-so-outdoorsy — types. So get naked, and arm yourself with information.
The Narwhal’s stories about the natural world in Canada are so stunning, you’d think we used a magic wand! Share the love, and this newsletter, with a friend — and remind them to subscribe!
