Photo: Facebook / Heritage Village Folktales Tour

By Liam Verster

Community

Heritage Village Folktales Tours to bring spooky twists to local folklore

Oct 16, 2019 | 3:03 PM

Members of the public will be able to take spooky after-hour guided tours through the Heritage Village as part of Grande Prairie Museum’s Folktales Tours event.

The tours will take visitors around the village, and tell them fact-based historical stories and folklore, that have fictional or legendary twists. The tours will teach visitors about local history and folklore through an engaging, entertaining lens, rather than just read about it in a textbook or on a plaque.

Robin Sloboda, the program and events coordinator with the City of Grande Prairie , says the stories could have ghostly or legendary elements, ranging from historical folklore, to Indigenous legends, to Sasquatch lore. Sloboda says one of the stories featured is that of Doctor Annie Higbie.

“She was actually the first doctor to the Peace Region, and she was a woman, which was pretty unusual at that time. So we talk a little bit about her contribution to the community, but then it gets a little bit eerie with the story about a girl who appears up at her door, and tells her that her mother is sick. So Dr. Higbie follows her to her ill mother’s home, and then manages to heal her from her illness, only to discover that the lady’s daughter had actually died a while ago. So we added that interesting ghost story element to it.”

She says the tours have some spooky elements to tie it in with the halloween season, including atmospheric effects like lighting, sound effects, costumed volunteers and fog machines. Though the tours are slightly spooky, they’re also educational, and not designed to create jump scares like in a haunted house.

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The South Peace Regional Archives and Indigenous History Committee are contributing to the event, through materials and stories for the tours. Members of these groups will also be on site at the end of the tours to answer questions from the visitors, and explain the factual elements of the stories.

Visitors will be treated to desserts and refreshments at the end of the tours, which run at 7 pm and 8:30 pm on Friday, October 18, and Saturday, October 19. Tickets can be purchased at the Revolution Place box office.