Secret Salon Series


We are delighted to announce our Secret Salon Series, offering immersive cultural experiences that merge art, education, science, music, and nature in unexpected ways. Events are held at Secret Headquarters, our beautiful studio in East Vancouver, home to hundreds of enchanting lanterns as seen at our Annual Winter Solstice Festival.

Dark Tales of Solstice Past

Saturday, December 14

7:00 PM - 8:30 PM PST

Enter the lantern-lit sanctuary of Secret Headquarters and let storyteller and Solstice Historian Shaughna Born lead you through ancient myths that have developed around the globe to explain the mysterious disappearance of the light.

As the source of all life, the sun has been continuously observed by humanity; each ancient culture carefully watched its progress across the sky to determine when to plant, when to harvest, and when to seek divine guidance. As the sun’s light began to wane, shamans and wise ones developed legends to explain the darkness and crafted rituals to lead their people through the longest night and towards the sun’s victorious return. Shaughna will share a variety of these dark ancient tales and answer your questions as we sip tea and take comfort beneath the warmth of glowing lanterns.

Event Notes / Be Prepared:

  • Tickets are available by sliding scale: $30-$50. Suggested admission: $35.

  • Doors open at 6:45 PM and the event will start promptly at 7:00 PM. Please do your best to be on time as late arrivals will be disruptive to activities in progress.

  • Space is limited to 30 participants so please register early.

  • Tea & snacks provided.

  • Age limit 12+

  • Your donation contributes directly to supporting our programming to continue ongoing learning and cultural sharing. We thank you for your support. If you have financial barriers preventing you from purchasing a ticket, please email admin@secretlantern.org and we will do our best to accommodate.

Secret Headquarters is gratefully situated on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples.
We honor, respect, and give thanks to our hosts.

Artist Bio

Beverly Dobrinsky is a Vancouver musician and storyteller who works both as a soloist and in various artistic collaborations. In 1991, inspired by the centenary of Ukrainian immigration to Canada, she founded “Zeellia”, a Slavic Soul sextet which specializes in E. European traditional music with a contemporary edge. She produced three Zeellia CDs, and performed with Zeellia across Canada and in NY city. She was the musical director of the Barvinok Choir, a choir based in Vancouver’s historic Ukrainian Hall from 2001-2022. In 2009 she was the artist in residence at the Carnegie Community Centre in Vancouver’s downtown east side and led “The Carnegie Village Project,” a community engaged project using song, poetry and story to express the uniqueness of that particular community. Over the years, she has been involved in several projects with Vancouver Moving Theatre, including “Bread and Salt” in 2013, and the evolving “Big House” from 2009-2015. She is currently working on creating a podcast series—Finding My Own Voice— a legacy project which allows her to look back at the arc of her career as a musician and storyteller; and in so doing honour ancestors, family and community who have supported her along the way. In this series, she will be examining her own process of uncovering and divesting colonial expectations and inviting other artists to present their work and discuss their own process of colonial divestment and cultural retrieval.

Getting Here: Secret Headquarters is located at 1398 East 3rd Avenue, Vancouver, BC. Bus # 22 is within walking distance; VCC Clark and Commercial Skytrain Stations are within 10 minutes' walk. Free parking on the street and in the large parking lot in the alley between 3rd and 4th.

Accessibility: Secret Headquarters is wheelchair and walker accessible. If you have specific accessibility needs, please get in touch with us at (778) 323-9489 or admin@secretlantern.org.

Omi, our lovely resident feline, loves to attend our gatherings. Please let us know if you have allergies and we will gently explain to him why he needs to stay home that night.