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.

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!

We drove up from Oregon to visit the Festival of Lights and we were very lucky with the weather! It…read morewas a gorgeous and magical evening and I would recommend it.

A great way to spend the dark evening. Lines are long, vaccine passport required... but if you can…read moredeal with that, it's great. The place has lights like no one's business, and it's great for the kiddos. There are lots of people, so if you don't like that, don't go. They have limited food options during the event, and the mini-donut stand had a VERY long line. I'm sure they are delicious, but yeah, not waiting for that. The trees, lake, random objects are all dressed in lights, hello Christmas Vacation.

There is an admission fee for adults at $7 per person. Children under 7 and seniors older than 65…read moredo not have to pay the admissions fee. Parking is complimentary. We arrived slightly before 7 pm and the parking lot had plenty of spots. However, there was a line to enter. We were in line for approximately 20 minutes. A lot of the vendors only accept cash. We are from Chicago so we tried to pay with credit card and were mostly successful. We tried several items such as popcorn chicken, fried mushrooms, Taiwanese garlic sausage, eggplant bao, lamb bao, beef skewers, lamb skewers, grilled oysters, and takoyaki. There is an approximate 5-10 minute wait for each stand to prepare the food. So I would say one should expect to spend at least 1.5 hours to seek out the food, order, and eat. There are plenty of benches with seating, public bathrooms, and ATM.

Richmond Night Market has been around for 26 years now. It is a good concept to bring the night…read moremarket atmosphere commonly found in Asia to Vancouver. It is more than just food stalls and vendors selling jewelry, stickers, socks, cell phone accessories etc. There are bouncy castle, inflatable balls to run around in, zip line, fair games like the PNE etc. What I find ridiculous but common here in North America is having to pay an admission fee just so you can go spend more money on food and shopping. In other parts of the world where night market or Christmas market is a common thing, you just go stroll through the streets where vendors and shops are for free. Buy food and things when they catch your eye. So it's $7 general admission now, $5 after 10 pm for late night. Seniors (60+) and children (under 7) are free. There are some stalls offering happy hours items for the entire night ($10 under food and $7 under drinks). Otherwise food is around $15 on average. The food stalls are still mostly Asian fare. Many bbq skewers and I saw many getting the squids. I tried a frozen banana dessert which was cut up frozen banana dipped in chocolate and drizzled with pistachio sauce and that's the Dubai inspired dessert. Not that great. The cheese coin was decent with plenty of cheese. The inari bomb was pretty tasty. Many stalls are cash only. So bring cash, lots of cash. There is a 3% charge for admission ticket if paying by card. I'll say budget for minimum $100 each if you want to fully enjoy the experience of buying food from a few stalls, play a couple of games and buy things. Parking is free and well organized. There is also a lot of soccer related theme this year because of the World Cup where a few games will be held in Vancouver. I can see this place being popular for young kids, teenagers and young adults as something to do with friends. As I still travel to Asia at least once a year, I can totally skip this. If you're expecting it to be like the night markets like in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia etc, this is not it.

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.

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.

It's my third year at Glow Langley and I swear the light displays keep getting bigger and bigger!…read moreOh my goodness this place is just breathtakingly beautiful. Glow is the finest, grandest, and most immersive Christmas celebration available. A complete wonderland throughout. Glow truly knows how to do the holidays right! They went all out this year! This year they took it even further: bigger glow, brighter magic, and the full holiday spirit. If you want big Christmas vibes then this is it! Every corner was dressed in holiday magic - twinkling lights, festive music, and pure Christmas vibes everywhere you turned. It was one of those perfect nights to be out walking, laughing, and just soaking it all in. From the moment I entered, the atmosphere pulled me in: bright lights, loud music, and the smell of hot chocolate drifting through the cold night air. It's the kind of place where even adults forget they're adults for a moment. The live music, the festive activities, the holiday characters, the Crystal Ice Palace--each element contributed to the sense of stepping into a winter festival built to entertain. Glow is pure festive magic! Just an unbelievable light display... just fantastic!... you have to see it to believe it!... and the art and talent that's put into this is out of this world! The displays were bold, vibrant, and full of magic -- every turn felt like something new to look at. It is, without a doubt, the most Instagrammable spot in the city during December. The light displays are beautifully crafted, creating a magical atmosphere that truly captures the festive spirit. You can definitely see the dedication and hard work throughout Glow. This is a magical experience that truly brings the spirit of Christmas to life! The light displays were breathtaking, the atmosphere felt like a fairytale, and every corner of Glow was glowing with wonder. The work gone into making this event must be massive but well worth it. Love all the thought and care that went into it. This is the place to experience the true feel of Christmas! It's festive magic at its best! It's the kind of place that makes you dream of holiday magic all over again!

I was so glad I visited the Langley Glow Gardens for the Christmas displays. The Christmas light…read moresculptures were all extraordinary to look at; every single one of them. There were some displays where you can interact with the lighting decorations or animatronics if you have one of those magic wands they sell. I walked through the sceneries more than once when I was there just because they are so gorgeous to look at. There is also a live concert, food trucks, a market section sponsored by other businesses, and an indoor train ride, which I had the pleasure of riding in. I highly recommend going to the Glow Gardens before Christmas is over.

Anyone that knows me knows that Christmas lights are my jam. So the fact that this whole festival…read morewas dedicated to a Christmas light maze had me the most excited I have ever been about the holidays. I bought tickets fairly early (like, right when it tickets were released... yes, I was that excited), so I believe I only paid $14 for one ticket. There were a lot of people who complained about the price, but to be honest, I was willing to pay that for a fun holiday night out. On the day that I went to visit, the snow on the ground was a little slushy, but that didn't stop me from having a good time. It was also a little bit crowded, but that also didn't stop me from having a good time. My point is, no matter what negative thing could have happened, I was still going to make sure I had the best time. Upon entry into the maze you're given a small map where you have to find all of Santa's reindeers. Once you find them, there's an employee standing in front of the reindeer and they give you a stamp. I'm not quite sure what the prize was if you found all the reindeers. In addition to the maze there are food trucks lined up and a large covered seating area for you to enjoy yourself after/before the maze. You have to pay additionally on top of the ticket, so you're looking at about $30 for the night per person. Which I mean, isn't that bad if you really think about it. Overall, I had a fun time. If Enchant were to be here in Vancouver in 2017, I'd 100% be there. But until they come back, I'll just look at pictures from Enchant 2016 and think about frolicking through a Christmas light maze.

I wanted to love Enchant but it ended up being just ok. I know there were issues with drainage when…read moreit first opened but those issues seemed to be resolved when I went (and it was raining the evening I went). I'd still recommend wearing proper boots or running shoes. It was super packed when I got there around 6pm. There were quite a few parents with strollers. It was fun trying to find all the reindeer and I bet kids loved this too. I enjoy looking at Christmas lights but found these to be a bit lackluster and boring. Maybe it's just my preference but I prefer more variety. These were just white lights. I also found it odd that they had a sleigh for Santa but no Santa. Overall, it didn't seem very festive. They had food trucks and a marketplace with some neat products and trinkets. A bit pricey but not outside of what you would usually pay. I don't think I would go again. To me, it wasn't worth the $20. I enjoy Van Dusen Gardens much more and I believe it's a bit cheaper. If you do go to Enchant, I recommend wearing good shoes and going a bit later, maybe 8pm or so if you're going without kids. It'll probably be less busy.

Lumière is an annual art event that's been going on since 2016, although this is the first year I…read morehad heard of it. It consists of several interactive light up art installations, as well as various performances, and it's all absolutely free! This year Lumière runs from November 1 to 3, from 5pm to 10pm at four different locations -- šxnq Xwtl'e7én Square behind the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Jim Deva Plaza on Davie Street, Morton Park at English Bay, and Lot 19 on Hornby Street (near the Salvador Dali Space Venus sculpture). There is also a free shuttle to take people between the locations which depart approximately every 15 minutes. I went with Nancy H. last night, and had a great (and inexpensive!) time. We took advantage of the free shuttle, which were trolleys from the Vancouver Trolley Company, and it took us just under two hours to make the rounds. We started off at the art gallery, where we saw the following installations: -Steely T: a large light-up, flame spewing turtle that people could enter or climb up top -Daisy: a large solar powered tricycle (unfortunately we didn't see it in action) -Alternity: a branching sculpture that lit up in different patterns when people interacted with it (it was one of my favourite pieces, probably because it reminded me of an organic molecule) -Sandscapes: sand, which people could sculpt, with different colored lights shining on to it in different patterns, evoking images of alien lands -Segmentium: a large orb with a diameter of 7 feet and 24 segments that lit up -Orchidelirium: giant orchids In additions to the above art pieces, at šxnq Xwtl'e7én Square, there was also a small exhibit, Neon at the Post, about neon signs in Vancouver. I immediately recognize the large, neon R from the Ridge movie theater. The next stop was at Jim Deva Plaza where we saw: -Tetra Velo: a large pyramid that people could walk through -Chromatic Shadows: a screen on which people's shadows were projected -Visitor: a blob-shaped structure that lit up in different colors and patterns, depending on how people interacted and controlled it -Woven: large, inflatable, illuminated arches that people could pass through on to their way to the beer garden (which also provided free water) Our third stop was English Bay. When we arrived, there was a fire show happening, although it was difficult to see, with the large crowd. The exhibits were: -Brood: an interesting metal spider, whose body served as a heat lamp -Stanley: a Great Blue Heron made up of 10,320 lights -Davie: a 24 foot tall grizzly bear -Luna: an orca made of over 6000 lights -Eugenia: a tree with lights that change color (my favourite exhibit at Lumière). It's not an exhibit of just any tree, but the oak tree that was atop of the Eugenia Place condo on Beach Avenue, that was installed in 1987 and died in 2017. *Note: Stanley, Luna, and Eugenia will remain on display until February 2020. The fourth, and last stop, was at Lot 19. There, we saw: -Telefunkin' Shadow Stage: another exhibit that involves displaying people's silhouettes on a screen -The Beating Heart: a nine-foot-high fiberglass human heart sculpture that was originally displayed at Burning Man. It beats to the rhythm of a person who places their hand on a sensor. (Note: the sensor is clearly not designed for people who don't have large man hands!) -Key to My Heart: two giant antique keys and a lock that also has a sensor to detect people's heartbeat. -Lux Memoriae: cool, geometric lanterns -Chrysafly: a large butterfly, although it was still being assembled when we were there. It was a fun night, and if you have a chance to check it out today or tomorrow, go! Lumière will be on my calendar next year. [Yelp collections: Public Art; Cheap Thrills; Being a tourist in my own city]

Lumière is an annual event of various art installations held in early November each year. Last…read morenight (Nov. 1) was opening night, and I went with Jasmine (a fellow Yelpie!), and we had a terrific time. It seems this event gets bigger and better with each passing year, and because there's been more advance promoting and advertising for this "light festival", and because the weather last night was stellar (clear and warm, considering it's November), there were fairly large crowds in attendance. And you definitely cannot beat the price. It's free! This year Lumière was held in four separate locations: two in the West End (Morton Square, at Davie and Denman, and Jim Deva Plaza, at Davie and Bute), and two downtown (the Van Art Gallery square on Georgia, and Lot 19 at the northern end of Hornby at Coal Harbor). There were free shuttles driving us attendees to each of the various sites. The buses left every 10-15 minutes, and the "tour guides" on the bus briefly described the highlighted works at the next location. There were 5-10 light-art installations at each site, and most were interactive in some way. Some, you could climb on. Some projected your image on screens in various ways. Some detected your pulse when you placed your hand on sensors and they flashed lights in various configurations. All were very photogenic and led most attendees to take selfies, and pictures of their kids or partners or dogs among the illuminated, colored backdrops. (Note: this is a very family-friendly event). As my kids would comment: this was an Instagram-friendly photoshoot-friendly kind of event. Some locales had performers who worked with lights and/or fire in some way. The fire performers at Davie and Denman had such a large audience circling them, it was hard for me to see the action (but I was glad that there was such a great turn-out for the event, so I happily checked out the other illuminated works at this site). There were neon-lit walkers on stilts at Jim Deva Plaza, too. At the Butte and Davie site, there was a makeshift tent set up for folks 19+, with a beer garden inside, bistro tables and chairs and a dj playing disco music, with disco lights and a floor for dancing! Cool! Seriously, it's hard to believe that this type of expansive exhibition, encompassing four separate sites in the city, is totally free of charge. I really recommend checking it out.

This was my first time going to the Richmond sunflower festival. I was surprised with how large the…read morefields were! They have a maze, lookout decks and props throughout the fields. They have a train that takes you to the fields too. They have all different heights of sunflowers and we went during golden hour and it was not very crowded and it was easy to get some great photos. They have a U-Pick area where you can choose the best sunflower to take home. They also have very well kept gardens with other flowers! This far exceeded my expectations and I would definitely recommend to other!

Totally worth the price to come here! A lot of people including myself thought "hmmmm... should I…read morepay for a ticket to see flowers only?!" Indeed there were so many different types of flowers and sunflowers. I loved the train and wagon ride on weekends! When the summer in Vancouver is very nice and warm, the sunflower fields look amazing! The venue has built some decks for visitors to take photos of the sunflower fields. I also enjoyed the train driver who spoke to all the visitors when driving and someone would sing some country songs when giving us a ride. The sunflowers and other flowers were just very beautiful! Kids could also see some farm animals and families could do picnic at the field. I would highly recommend this place!!