CelticFest Vancouver, the city’s annual celebration of Celtic culture, will host a week-long series of celebrations with music, comedy and entertainment March 11-18, 2023. The signature event is a free all-ages festival happening the weekend of March 17-18 in Downtown Vancouver.
CelticFest Vancouver Photos
CelticFest Vancouver Free All-Ages Festival
When: Friday March 17 – Saturday March 18, 2023
Where: šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énḵ Square – North of the Vancouver Art Gallery
Kicking off on Saint Patrick’s Day, the weekend’s festivities include live music, performances, a beer tent, food trucks, Irish dancing, a Celtic-themed market, Irish Wolfhounds, a family zone, sports demonstrations and more.
The festival will showcase a range of performances including music from local Celtic favourites The Whiskeydicks and Fight Outside featuring Brian O’Brien and Paul Caldwell. Lavengro, a pop-indie band from Derry, Ireland will be in Vancouver to perform in addition to rising singer/songwriter Shane Beirne from Carrick on Shannon in Roscommon, Ireland.
Throughout the weekend across two stages at the Vancouver Art Gallery, acts like Jas Minh, the Irish Dancing Drag Queen will entertain audiences and Eire Born Irish Dancers will perform traditional dance.
Family favourite, Music with Marnie will delight young festival-goers while the family zone has games and activities for all ages. A curated marketplace will offer everything from baked goodies, O’Neills sportswear, a photo booth from sponsor Swim Recruiting, locally made crafts and games with community groups from the Irish and Scottish communities.
The Vancouver Heritage Foundation presents Vancouver Heritage Week February 20-26, 2023, celebrating the theme “Always in All Ways”, which invites you to explore your community’s heritage in all the ways that excite you.
To kick off the week, join a family-friendly evening of storytelling, music, table displays, and light refreshments at Heritage Hall. There will be a scavenger hunt, and over 25 meet and greet tables with books and items for sale to celebrate Heritage Week.
Japanese Canadian Hastings Park Interpretive Centre Society
Vancouver Poet Laureate
Vancouver Heritage Fairs
Aaron Chapman
Visit with Hogan’s Alley Society, Historic Joy Kogawa House, Francophone Village, Chinese Canadian Historical Society of BC and many more.
Find more info and events on the VHF website (including a sold out walk in Mount Pleasant with John Atkin), and for a full list of Heritage Week events across the province, visit the Heritage BC website.
It’s Family Day Long Weekend in Vancouver and there’s no shortage of things to do! From free admission to local attractions, to a full calendar of recreational events hosted by cities, plus festivals, music, theatre, and so much more!
Things to do in Vancouver This Weekend February 17-20 Family Day Long Weekend
We’re so ready for the cherry blossoms to pop in Vancouver that even a photo of pink petals on a viburnum shrub in mid-February is getting everyone excited for what’s to come! The Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival will return in April, for most of the month, with free neighbourhood maps and walks, and a lineup of ticketed events.
Miss604 Photo
Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Events
Here are a few festival favourites that are on the calendar already:
The Big Picnic at David Lam Park
Saturday, April 1, 2023 from 10:00am to 4:00pm
Free
The Big Picnic is inspired by our belief that “there are no strangers under the cherry tree”, and connects all diverse audiences through the cultural arts, community, and our beautiful environment. The 2023 edition will feature various stages with some of the best multicultural local talent, exciting food from a variety of the culinary offerings of the city, and interactive sharings from community partners who will offer ideas and practices for a healthier and sustainable future.
Sakura Days Japan Fair celebrates all things Japan, from Japanese food, and performances, to arts and culture. Most activities will take place out of doors, with selected vendors, tea ceremonies, and experiences to take place indoors. Look forward to taiko drumming, theatre performances, woodworking demonstrations, and a renewed Japanese Garden display, just to name a few.
Bike the Blossoms
Saturday, April 22, 2023
at Trout Lake
Bike the Blossoms in partnership with Velopaloozais a beautiful slow ride under tunnels of the hot pink Kanzan cultivar on the east-side. Participants will end their ride with coffee and tea from Scavenger Coffee under a grove of cherry trees to reflect on their experience.
Tree Talks and Walks
April 2, 7, 8, 9, 10, 22, 23
Free
Tree Talks and Walksare free guided tours led by local experts that focus on better understanding how our trees play a vital role in our city. It’s an opportunity to explore Vancouver’s neighbourhoods and parks and to learn about the history of the land we inhabit. Keep an eye out for one coming in March! Details will be announced soon.
Follow the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival on Facebook for the latest news and event updates.
Related: Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival in jeopardy after main sponsor backs out due to financial struggles: “The festival is facing an $80,000 shortfall because of the sponsorship pull out, which equals to about 25 per cent of its overall budget. “Without this sponsorship, we’re definitely in trouble, in terms of our big events,” says Michael Dove, the executive director of the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival. Most events at the festival are free for people to enjoy, aside from two major events, Sakura Days Japan Fair and the Sakura Night Gala.”
Rooted in the French-Canadian community and heritage of the Maillardville area in Coquitlam, Festival du Bois is the largest and most popular celebration of francophone music and culture in BC. The event returns this year with a brilliant roster of music artists and performers slated to grace the stages of the big heated tents at Mackin Park.
Festival du Bois 2023
When: March 24-26, 2023
Where: Mackin Park/Maillardville
(1046 Brunette Ave, Coquitlam across the highway from IKEA)
Tickets: Early bird pricing until the end of February. Single day and full festival passes available. Children under 5 years are free.
The festival opens on Friday night, March 24, with a contra dance – now a festival tradition – in the Grand Chapiteau (Big Tent) in Mackin Park. Dance to the music of Vancouver’s premiere contradance group, TheSybaritic String Band, with caller, Maureen Collier. Opening the evening is an exciting double bill featuring Devon and Louis Léger (LaFamilleLéger) and the music and foot rhythms of Podorythmie.
On Saturday and Sunday the festival presents outstanding music artists from BC, Manitoba, Washington State, and Quebec. The concert Main Stage and dance floor of the Grand Chapiteau welcomes: Les Grands Hurleurs, the “great howlers”, playing traditional Québécois music that’s bursting with new ideas; sensational Senegalese soul-rocker, Élage Diouf; hip-swivelling, dance-floor-filling Brazilian dance music from Forró do Cana; Québécois music power trio, Genticorum; BC’s own Métis Jiggers; La Famille Léger’s French-Canadian and Acadian tunes, along with the galvanizing music and dance of Podorythmie; and, celebrating 50 years, Maillardville-based francophone choir, Les Échos du Pacifique.
A featured area of the festival, The Métis Village Experience, invites festival-goers to enjoy, explore, learn and appreciate the rich Métis history, art, perspectives and language. Musicians, dancers, storytellers, craftspeople, artisans and others share their culture and traditions. Festival du Bois is excited to again partner with the North Fraser Métis Association.
In the Children’s Tent (Petit Chapiteau), kids and families will get to experience Madame Diva, Will & Seeka, Seeka Sings, and Véronique’s Conte d’Afrique avec Mulungie.
