A Renaissance market town at faire time, in the gorgeous summer of British Columbia -- how awesome…read moreis that! There are so many activities and features for the family to enjoy -- jousting to watch, children's games, fairies flitting around, jugglers, magicians, falconry, wandering minstrels, dancers, and all set around a total-immersion audience-participation all-day theater. Each year the plot progresses, and yet each year stands alone, entertaining and historically informative, with drama, intricate sword fights, royals and commoners, pirates and naval officers, Scotsmen and Spaniards. The enthusiastic and delightful crew of performers and musicians really make this experience special -- our family has been going to this Faire for years, and we love it! I'm particularly fond of gift shopping there with all of the amazing handcrafted items available -- I even get some gorgeous clothing items there. Also, this is one of the few places in Canada where one can hear authentic British Isles popular music from hundreds of years ago -- while drinking mead :-) The BC Renaissance Festival is truly a treasure -- long may the revelry continue!

From the owner: BCRF arose from a desire to provide an opportunity for talented performers and artisans to showcase…read moretheir historically based / inspired skills and entertain the public in a historically themed setting. We strive to provide entertainment combined with education to all ages in a safe space, producing an encompassing experience. Parents have praised us for our games and rides area as well as our safety factors around the horses and potential risks. Adults and children alike have enjoyed the fulfilling day at the faire. We are bringing World history to life within the comforts of the Modern Age. We are not confined to just the English Renaissance. 'Renfests' all over North America have features and entertainment relating to Folklore (elves, dwarves, dragons, unicorns, etc.), Viking, Asian, European Cultures, Victorian (both realistic and fiction-steampunk), Pirates, and much more. Vendors can not only be influenced by history but also fantasy, fiction, culture or myth. Time period inspired products and entertainment can reach back as far as the stone age and as modern as Victorian. GOOD NEWS!! Jousting is back - Check the webpage for more news and look for the gofundme titled Historicalhorses NOTE: We have changed our dates and location. Please see the webpage for more information.

One of my other loves in life, apart from food, is flowers…read more When I found out that Agassiz has a Tulip Festival, I knew I had to visit. Running from mid April to the end of April, the Agassiz Tulip Festival is a good alternative to the famous Skagit Valley Festival in the US. Of course, it's at a much smaller scale, but it's still picturesque, with the fields nestled among the mountains. Parking is $5, and adult entrance fees are $3. The vast fields are quite a spectacle. Rows and rows of vibrant tulips provide an opportunity to snap beautiful pictures. Soak in the sun, walk around the large fields, and perhaps also purchase bulbs or fresh cut tulips to bring home. With a scenic drive to Agassiz, this festival makes this a great springtime activity!

I have been to a lot of outdoor events such as food truck festivals, Craft market, Italian Day,…read moreFusion events and etc. This one is definitely not wow. No fancy concerts here. They have low cost performances. No beer garden here either. This is basically a city event put up to teach kids to recycle. Its not wow. Food trucks were ok but not as much as say the Columbia Street festival. I would say 80% of the stalls are put up by the City of Richmond. I guess its great for kids. But for grown up not really. I also think its due to the demographic of Richmond. Maybe Richmond has more young families and Asian so this event tends to be tailored to them. If I haven't gone to so many outdoor festivals this year, I probably would have enjoyed this one. There are limited parking here and one option was to risk getting your car towed by parking inside of Richmond Center. The event is free and yes the ice rink is also open to the public for free that day (ice rink is owned by the City of Richmond). It was ok but I guess my interest is not to learn about recycling at 10+ different stalls.

Went last year but this years Fest knocked it out of the ball park!…read more Lots of food options & great entertainment from Kunda Africa band as well as Tokyo Police Club! Lots of food trucks & great food sampling at the culinary stage. Fun for the whole family & friends. For some reason this festival only runs on Friday & Saturday - on a long weekend ... why organizers!?? Tried the Pad Thai chicken dish from the Thai Box on Truck food truck - it took awhile to serve us - they were extremely busy - it was well worth the 20 minute wait! Pressure will be on for next years event to be just as good if not better - good luck organizers!

Okay, so I understand this is only your 4th year, but if you want to make it to #5, and if this is…read morewhat you call a Garlic festival, you better get some reading glasses. 1) Don't charge folks for entering until you beef up the number of vendors, and get the garlic vendors to take credit cards! Having just 3 food stalls was a joke and your website mentions 17 types of garlic, there might have been 5 at the most! That or cut the entrance price in half, at $8 a head, even with a $1 savings from the coupon on the website, I felt really ripped off. 2) If you get food vendors, make sure that they offer a "garlic" themed menu item! Only vendor who even had garlic in their foodstuffs was a gyro place, and that was because of the sauce recipes, not by design. 3) Try focusing on either garlic or the rockabilly theme, really, to me and others around me, it didn't work. I actually felt sorry for one the main groups, when they finished up their set, of the 8 people standing around, none of them were really listening nor did they clap once they were finished, it was rather embarrassing. 4) Post consistent signage up around the area. Saw maybe 5 signs, of those 3 of them noted a CORN festival, not GARLIC!! 5) If you offer t-shirts, at $25, make sure your stall takes credit cards. 6) Educate your garlic vendors, spoke to each one of them, while looking for one who'd take a credit card, at $10 a pound I didn't have enough Canuck-cash with me. Also, it would have been nice to have the vendors to put up some better signage, most only posted the price per pound and a few listed the varieties they had for sale, would have also been nice to have a brief description of the type and flavor profile. On the plus, side, staff at the ticket gates were very nice and personable, the sani-cans were clean, and there was a decent amount of FREE parking....2 stars for the free parking by the way.

After reading the event calendar on Vancity Buzz, and seeing this event, it really didn't peak my…read moreinterest, but it was Sunday and neither my partner, nor myself had much planned, and since we are in Richmond we decided to go to this event. This year marks the 6th time they have had it... six years, wow... I have never heard about this festival at all, and really didn't know how to get here, luckily the website had a physical address for me to put into the phone GPS and away we went! When we arrived, the main road to the Park was closed off, and parking is in residential area, I was lucky enough (parking gods coming through again) to find a spot near the main closed off gate. After that we walked a few blocks toward the festivities. We didn't know what to expect and when we got here it was different, how so you ask? This festival melded with the farm quite well, where the sponsor's/vendor's used the area they were given, and didn't intrude upon it. Coming here, you felt one with the farm lands, as they seperated the sections up, the first part we were in was actually the last portion, a make-shift small stage, a fire-burning oven for Steveston pizza, and a 'spin the wheel' tent set up by Kin's Farm, where they are taking donations, and you can win anything from lettuce to reusable bags. There was a second area that was set-up for the youth, and a small little petting zoo with the Richmond Automalls 'bunnies' (real life rabbits) for the kids... a good assortment of little hoppity creatures (even though mine would take the cake on cute, and wanting to being pet!) and other youth oriented products being sold at this portion of the festival. I can see that the children were having a blast, and all in a very controlled environment. At the same time it was very sheilded from the other portions of the festival, in a different zone, seperated by the trees and bushes, pretty cool. In the final area... where most people probably start their journey through this festival, there are greeters from the sharing farm telling you what they are doing there, and how you can help. There was car2go, BC Hydro, YVR airport, and some other sponsors of the event showing things in their individual tents. There was a red barn with cooking displays, and another tent talking about cultivation, and also the sharing farm itself, showing what people do here, and how it goes back into the community. Most of the food grown here goes to the foodbank... and to learn about this now.. after 6 years. Also some local farmers were selling things.. like.. fresh garlic (of course!), raw honey, local produce (from lettuce to tomatoes), jams... there were many things on show.. I just can't remember them at all. The sharing farm area is huge, and it's a peaceful place to walk... but to know that this place exist, and what people are doing here is amazing... that.. and the backdrop of airplanes landing across the water at YVR... it's a relaxing experience that I hope to come back next year to partake in! We ended up walking most of the festival with 4 batches of lettuce we won at the Kins Farm booth! Just remember next time... (next year) bring a reuseable bag.. you never know what you might leave with.

Celebration of Light is back for 2022 after a two year hiatus!…read more We were in town and got to catch the first week of CoL and it was Japan! This event is fully stocked with lots of food trucks, live music and other fun booths. All the locals we spoke to said get there early (like 2-3pm) to get a spot on the beach or just give it up and watch from the street, which would also be crowded. They do offer some stadium seats for a price (they sell out online early), but after reading the reviews, we decided to take our chances in the free public areas. Cactus Club at English Bay usually sells tickets too, but they were closed for a private event on this day. We forgot our invite! Haha. 3:30pm: We arrived and it didn't look too bad. There were still empty spots here and there on the grass and benches. We decided to grab some food and drinks nearby. 5pm: We got spots on one of the benches (no shade)! Still a decent amount of space in between people on the benches and lawn. 7pm: Red Bull air show. Exhilarating! Aerobatic pilot Pete McLeod is such a daredevil! 8:30pm: Starting to get too close for comfort. People jamming in spots that can't really fit an adult person. 10pm: The main event! Crowded everywhere...shoulder to shoulder. 25 minutes of spectacular fireworks! What a show! We were disappointed we couldn't hear the synced music though... I have to give props out to the Canadians. For the most part, this event was well organized and everyone behaved themselves more or less. There was a good amount of police presence. It was a cool to experience this event live once. I watched it on YouTube a couple days later complete with music and all from my couch at home and it might arguably have been even better.

FIREWORKS. I've…read moreseen the Celebration of Light twice now, and I love it. This is now a family tradition. You can pay for a ticket to reserve a seat on a bleacher or join the thousands who grab a blanket or lawn chair and park a squat or stand in the street for free for the same - or better - view. Bring a picnic and some cards and make a day of it. This is a must do Vancouver situation, held the last week of July/first week of August. Make sure to bring a radio to hear the music much better vs. through the speakers broadcast through the crowds. Be prepared to deal with the throngs of people walking afterwards and not finding a cab. You'll be pumped from the show(s) you see anyway to give you the boost to hike to your vehicle.

Terrible service…read more There are two ticket machines out side of door but one of them's transaction machine was not working. I was almost late for movie time and there were long lineup after me. I was sure everyone were so frustrated not to catch the movie on time. I talked to the receptionist/cast member but she was busy for dealing her smart phone (don't bring it at workplace especially while you are talking to the customer) Three hours later, after I watched the movie, the transaction machine still had no sign like out of order. Even they haven't opened physical ticket booth. One other cast member was just walking around telling "Thank you for coming". It doesn't make any sense and no help at all. They pretend they were doing best without any effort.

i actually kinda like this theatre for what it is, low key, never too crowded, and just chill. the…read moreseats are comfy enough, they gently rock back, but don't expect footrests or full on recliners with swivel trays, it's not vip. the a/c hits that balance, cool enough to keep you comfortable without needing a cardigan. tucked inside tinseltown (aka international village mall), this place feels like a bit of a throwback, the mall is dated and rarely busy. it means shorter lines, easy parking, and a calmer vibe overall. with nine theatres and a decent sound system, you're still getting a proper moviegoing experience without the frills. plus, it's close to chinatown, t&t, and a food court if you're craving something other than popcorn. but if you are in a popcorn mood (mandatory at movies for me, regardless of how full i am) theirs is solid (but can be a hit or miss). on this visit, the popcorn was warm, freshly popped, and not too greasy. washrooms were clean, no long line ups, and yes, free underground parking with your movie ticket stub. the movie lineup is diverse, from big studio hollywood blockbusters to indie releases and foreign films. not fancy, nor flashy, but dependable, comfortable, and a great spot to catch a movie.

As a vendor trying to be a part of this festival I'm horribly dismayed at how I was treated last…read moreyear, I was asked not to attend after payment had been made as they recieved an anonymous email accusing me of disgusting atrocities and without verification I was asked not to attend so that there would be no conflict. It was a false accusation with no bearing at all and when we expressed emotion about the disgusting lies we were told we were being pulled from the venue. The organiser of this event is imo absolutely disgusting for doing this and I will be very vocal about the abuse THEY caused ME. I hope with all my might that they crash and burn, not the vendors as they are all amazing but who organizes the event. I believe if we all stand by eachother during times like these, people like her who obviously only care about the bottom line (MONEY as they raised the price for vendors this year an exorbitant amount) can finally be held accountable.

Pretty cool little festival but WAY too cramped. There were thousands of people there but…read moreeverybody is jammed into a few blocks. We couldn't even get to some of the stalls because it was so busy. I wish they could spread it out a bit more. It would make browsing much easier. Close down another block or two and I bet it would make a world of difference. Fruit, candles, breads, crafts - pretty much a typical farmers market with a cranberry theme. There was some great musicians playing by the main hall and throughout the main drag. Parking nearby was a disaster but we found a great hidden parking area up near 88th. A bit of a walk but you don't get stuck in traffic. Is it worth it? I like local events but Nah - it's just another farmers market. Come to Fort Langley any Saturday for the farmers market at the church. It's the same just smaller.

I stumbled upon this festival when I was meeting my supervisor at the Chemistry building. The…read morefestival is a cute setup in front of the UBC Bookstore. They have a live band, some tables to sit around, and lots of baked goods. You could get blueberry muffins, scones, pancakes, tarts, and even a small green salad with blueberry dressing. You can also buy fresh blueberries. Prices were really reasonable (I won't post them since another reviewer did so). They even take credit and debit cards! I ended up buying two blueberry-orange scones, which cost $1.25 each. I went right at closing time (1pm) but they still let me make my purchase. The scone was a bit small, but it was very good and the blueberries were awesome (which you'd expect since it is the blueberry festival). I wouldn't go out of my way to come to UBC for this, but if you're on campus you should check it out.

Good price for fresh blueberries, but I know where I can find them cheaper around town--locally…read moregrown, fresh berries. The baked goods were sold out by the time I got there this year. But last year the parfait was delicious! However, it's nothing I can't make at home... all of it. But still it's a fun thing UBC Food Services does once a year. This year they even had a band play!