Village Studios opens in Summer 2021 and is owned & operated by This Is Blueprint, occupying the same building as legendary venue Celebrities Nightclub. The building that houses Celebrities Nightclub (upstairs) & Village Studios (downstairs) at 1022 & 1024 Davie Street has been an entertainment mainstay in Vancouver for over a century. Built in 1908, the building was designed by Thomas Hooper – one of B.C.’s most important early architects. It became home to one of the city’s first dancing halls – the Lester Dancing Academy (originally called Lester Court), which was run by husband and wife dance-teaching duo Frederick and Maud Lester. In the 1940s, it became the Embassy Ballroom – a “genteel dancing club.” ​ In the 1960s, the venue morphed into the rock club Dante’s Inferno, and then the Retinal Circus, a hippie venue famous for its psychedelic concerts and groovy lightshows. In the club’s basement, Tommy Chong ran an after-hours club called the Elegant Parlour. During this decade, the club played host to music legends like Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead, the Velvet Underground and The Doors. ​ In 2016, the space was re-imagined as Celebrities Underground, a downstairs extension of the legendary nightclub, intended to host underground events. Initially launched to host events for Seasons Festival, the space has since added a Recording Studio and creative work space, relaunching as an independent, multidisciplinary event & creative space called Village Studios in 2021. The legacy lives on!