Holidays & Festivals
Alaska:
Holidays:
January 1 – New Year’s Day
Third Monday in January – Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday
Third Monday in February – President’s Day
Last Monday in May – Memorial Day
July 4 – Independence Day
First Monday in September – Labor Day
November 11 – Veterans Day
Fourth Thursday in November – Thanksgiving Day
December 25 – Christmas Day
Festivals:
April 7-13 – Alaska Folk Festival
Every other June – Celebration (Juneau)
Vancouver:
Holidays:
January 1 – New Year’s Day
Third Monday in January – Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday
Third Monday in February – President’s Day
Last Monday in May – Memorial Day
July 4 – Independence Day
First Monday in September – Labor Day
November 11 – Veterans Day
Fourth Thursday in November – Thanksgiving Day
December 25 – Christmas Day
Festivals:
HSBC Celebration of Light The largest fireworks competition in the world. Four nights of fireworks in late July, early August. Over one million people attend this event every year. The show starts at 10PM sharp. Accompanying music is played over local radio stations so that you can hear the choreographed music while watching the show. Last year's crowd during the first night's performance was estimated at 400,000 people so be prepared for huge crowds:
Warning: Expect delays when transiting to and from the show. It is recommended that you take public transportation for this event.
The Illuminares Festival. This is an alternative festival of light involving hundreds of hand-made paper lanterns made by the local people of Vancouver. They are paraded through Trout Lake Park after sunset to the sounds of drums, gamelan and flutes played by local musicians. It is a real grassroots part of the Commercial Drive culture in East Van. The same theatre group puts on The Festival of Lost Souls for Halloween.
Fringe Festival - Every year, close to 100 theatre groups and performers from across Canada and around the the world perform for 11 days in diverse venues, from theatres to garages to a moving Aquabus.
The Pacific National Exhibition Western Canada's largest fair and exhibition takes place at the end of each summer on the fair grounds next to Play Land.
Lantern Festival. In July at Trout Lake Park - bring your homemade lantern.
Chinese New Year. Because there is such a strong Chinese population in the city, the Lunar New Year period is often one of the most exciting and colourful in the city. There is usually a parade in Chinatown and many of the public schools usually have a day off on Chinese New Year. You can also catch celebrations at Tinseltown mall (1 minute from Stadium Skytrain station), and in Richmond at the International Buddhist Temple. There, visitors can experience Chinese New Year festivities with traditional snacks and foods, auspicious flower arrangements, Chinese calligraphy, exciting raffles, and much, much more.
Jazz Festival This usually occurs at the end of June and is growing in both size and reputation.
Dragon Boat Festival This usually occurs in the month of June on False Creek.
Vancouver Film Festival happens every year in late September and early October. Good selection of films, but often hard to get tickets.
The Parade of Lost Souls takes place around Halloween in the Commercial Drive area. It is free to go, and features live music, fire dancers, lots of costumed revellers. Underadvertised, but one of the biggest yearly festivals in Vancouver.
Richmond Night Market Held in a Richmond parking lot (across from Ikea), this festival runs Friday and Saturday evenings during the summer. A multicultural Asian market event, it contains rows of open stalls with various ethnic foods made to order. There is also stage entertainment of rather dubious quality and a plethora of items for sale from clothing, books, electronics and Asian DVDs. This is a thriving and vibrant event that is quite popular.
Vancouver Folk Festival A truly amazing folk festival featuring spectacular views of the harbour and mountains. The Vancouver Folk Festival typically features multiple stages, and a wonderous mix of traditional and contemporary artists. The 2006 folk festival featured Feist, Jane Siberry, Beats without Borders, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt & Salil Bhatt, Dyad and a myriad of other wonderful performers. The current location is Jericho Beach.
