You can now drink on Granville Island this summer

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      If you’ve wanted a new spot to get day-drunk with your friends and various seagulls this summer, great news: alcohol consumption is now legal on Granville Island from 11am to 8pm daily. 

      Before you get too excited and try to chug a White Claw in front of A Bread Affair, the change in rules only applies to the Public Market and adjoining courtyard.

      “Building on the success and lessons learned from open alcohol consumption initiatives across the region (over 110 and growing!) Granville Island has decided to launch this trial program to enable open and responsible consumption in the Public Market and adjoining courtyard,” reads a statement on Granville Island’s website. 

      The open consumption area is delineated by signs about the pilot, which covers the indoor Public Market as well as part (but not all) of the outdoor courtyard.

      The consumption pilot area is outlined in red.
      Granville Island
      The same public consumption area, but poorly outlined on Google Maps because I couldn't parse the official map.
      Google Maps / V. S. Wells

      So, if you want to drink, you still have to obey the rules—be over 19, stay within the boundaries, get out of the Market when it shuts at 6pm, and be respectful of everyone else. 

      As a pilot program, the initiative will run through till the end of 2023, and authorities will “assess the impact on tenants and visitors, gauge impacts to maintenance and need for security, and decide whether to continue with a permanent project at the end of the pilot.”

      More than a dozen liquor retailers and restaurants will be selling booze to drink on the island, and while not explicitly stated, presumably you could also bring your own libations from elsewhere.

      Frankly, I didn’t know alcohol consumption wasn’t legal on Granville Island before this point—not that I have ever bought something fancy from Liberty Distillery and immediately tried to crack into it—so this is great news for people who like to obey the law. 

      Time to get riggity-wrecked by the market. Try not to throw up on the water taxi home.

      More information about the pilot program is available on Granville Market’s website.

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