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!

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.

Went to check out the annual apple festival at the UBC Botanical Gardens last weekend…read more TL;DR: - Huge crowds. - Hard time finding parking (even paid spots) nearby since it's on a university campus. - A lot of time spent lining up. - Apples we purchased were tasty though! $9 admission fee: - Access to purchase apple trees, apple products, & a variety of apples (+ a few pears), some of which aren't usually available at grocery stores. - Access to the gardens & other vendors, live music, & a kids' play area. - Does not include apple tasting, which is a separate cost. The lines: - To enter: Long but moved fast. - To pay: Hella long & wasn't as fast. - To buy apple pockets / pies: Yet another separate line. Also very long & slow moving. We spent 1.5 hours at the event, & most of it was on lining up! Event staff told us they didn't get a lot of apples this year, so they were limiting purchases to 1 bag per apple type, per group. Each 3 lb bag cost $7, & organic varieties cost $8. The 3 varieties of apples we bought tasted great. - Ambrosia: crisp, juicy, sweet, crunchy - Salish: tangy, slightly tart, crisp, crunchy - Organic Aurora Golden Gala: juicy, very sweet, crunchy (my fave!) The apple pockets were from Golden Crust Specialties, a bakery in Squamish, BC. - Apple pocket - Raspberry Apple pocket They were sold cold, but they tasted good after reheating at home. I liked the apple one more as the raspberry one was a little too sweet & had a tart aftertaste. 3 stars for the event itself, 5 stars for the apples, & 4 stars for the apple pockets. Doubt I will be back again as it's just not worth the time, effort, & overall cost.

Ever since I moved to Vancouver in 2017, I've wanted to attend this annual Apple Festival, as I've…read moreheard so many great things about it. I did visit the UBC botanical gardens that first year here and my family and I LOVED the garden! It was spectacular! Then the apple festival was cancelled the last three years due to COVID, but this year it resumed, with much hoopla, advertising its 31st year in operation, and noting that they are limiting ticket sales and that all tickets for admission need to be purchased online in advance. The festival this year is held today and tomorrow, Oct. 15 and 16, from 11am to 4 pm. General ticket admission is $9/person (less for young kids. Note that the tasting tent, where you actually taste different apple varieties, is extra). My two friends and I got tickets to attend today, at 1pm, the first day of the festival. I'll be honest. I was really disappointed in this event. First of all, I can't imagine that they were limiting the amount of people in any way, shape or form, or staggering the admission times for the crowds. It was packed. Like, practically shoulder to shoulder packed with people. Hordes of humanity. If you're not into mass crowded venues, do not visit. Granted the weather was stellar today, and it is the weekend, but man, we were really taken aback by the sheer volume of people here. So we were there on the first day at 1pm and, upon entry, we were told they were all out of maps. They told us there were maps posted throughout the garden but no, the only map posted was by the entrance. So we wandered about, not knowing exactly where we were going. We passed some vendors selling chocolates, nuts, honey and bees wrap cloths. My friend got some honey. We recognized these vendors from the annual Circle Craft and Make-It festivals we attend in November/December. We saw someone eating a candied covered apple (it looked like caramel), and man, it looked GOOD! I asked the girl where she got it, as my friends and I suddenly had a hankering for these apples (I remember these when I was a kid in Montreal, the caramel was so soft covering the crisp apple. It was a real nostalgia thing!). The girl pointed to an area by the vendor tents, saying she got it "over there" but they were "all out of them". What??? It was just after 1pm! No maps, no brochures, no candy apples. We wandered to the bagged apple areas, as my friends wanted to get some bagged fruits. (They also sell apple trees in this area, and apple pies, too. But the lines for the pies was SO long, we decided to forego it). At the bagged apple area, 80% of the stands were covered in tarps, and the only types of apples available were Ambrosia and Honey Crisp. Two types. That was it. And don't even ask the process to pay for the bagged apples. My friend had cash (the bag cost $7). We had to walk around the area to the exit, and there we saw two tables, one with signs for cash only, the other for debit/credit. We went to the cash table but were told, oh no, you gotta go in that long line first, before paying, to get a receipt for the items you want to get, THEN go to the cash or debit desk to pay. (Note there are no signs at all about the process, and we saw people picking up bags of apples and walking out the way they came, probably unclear as to the whole payment process - as we were). It was confusing and inefficient. I just saw on the 6pm Global News report a little segment on the festival. It was filmed early this morning, perhaps before the gates opened. It did not show the crowds or address the meager supply of apples (and other fruits) for purchase, or maps. I kept thinking, if my elderly parents were here, they couldn't handle this, wandering without knowing how to get anywhere, and then not having a variety of bagged fruit to buy (which was advertised). Perhaps the event would be better if one paid extra for the apple tasking in the tasting tents. I'm not sure. There were demos in the garden store but the line was so long to get in, we didn't bother. And yes, there was a singer on a stage, and a harp player in the tunnel, and that was nice. But was it all worth $9? For me, I'd say no. I love the garden, and for me, I'd rather just visit the garden when it's less crowded (WAY less crowded), so I could enjoy the natural beauty of the place without the crush of the crowds and the false lure of getting different types of apples.

I was staying on campus for a few days and decided to visit the botanical garden for a nice walk. I…read morewas pleasantly surprised with the amount of flowering plants as the weather was still quite cold. The trail map was easy to follow and there were multiple areas to explore. I was fascinated by the medicinal herb area as each plant described the ailments it could treat. There was also a large area for growing produce that is being used to feed needy people in Vancouver. A portion of the trail is paved and there are also trails that are mostly mulch. It takes about 2 hours to cover the whole garden if you go at a leisurely pace. There are restrooms throughout the garden and the staff is very friendly. The parking lot is spacious and the parking rates are inexpensive. I believe it was $1.50 CA per hour. The google maps did route me to the back of the garden (no parking or entrance) so you may have to loop around to get to the front entrance. There is an information booth right in the front and the staff will give you a quick explanation of the layout of the place.

Very attractive place. Tree walk is fabulous! Unfortunately…read morevery aggressive entrance pricing!!

Great place for movies. They always have such great options for international movies and great bar…read moreas well. Their service is great, the staff is well trained and super friendly.

We just went here last night for the first day of the Vancouver Film Festival. We saw Ghost Trail…read moreand it was a really nice movie i enjoyed it, something different for us that we saw. The event workers were really nice and guided us to where we needed to go. It was clean and the seats were comfy. I saw a past review about mice and tbh that freaked me tf outttt but no there was no mice thank god. It was super clean they had popcorn we didnt get any snacks though, just enjoyed the movie

To sum it all up in one sentence, the Khatsalano street festival is very much worth a visit…read moreespecially if you love to vibe with people and enjoy great music together. If you want a comparison to the richmond night market, read around the middle part of this review. The only thing that i didn't like was the staff at the information booth because when i asked them about directions, they acted annoyed that i asked them a question. Their tone when they answered my question was not pleasant either. Maybe i caught them when they were in a bad mood. Luckily, that's the only single negative i have to say about this festival. The live music was SO good. I spent a good 15 minutes at each concert stage i passed by because it was so great watching people dance along and just vibing to the music. There was so much variety of music too. From what i remember, there was R&B/hip hop/rap in half french and english by Missy D. i also heard punk rock, and pop rock. The beer gardens near the block ends had a live DJ playing super upbeat stuff like pop, latinx, and EDM. There was so much activity around the beer garden. The queue to go inside snaked around the entire place until there was no more room to let more people in. People were vibing to the music and forming a crowd near the DJ showing off their best moves, it was so awesome to see. There was so many vendors selling and promoting things. I saw vintage clothing, music record labels, cell phone plans from carriers, arts and crafts, jewelry, informational booths promoting startups promoting various things, radio stations giving away stuff, and much more. A lot of the street vendors were giving samples or selling things at the booths outside their own store right behind them. I personally bought a bunch of instant noodles from an asian noodle vendor because they were having a pretty good deal and it came with some swag freebies as a bonus. I then spun a wheel at a startup company booth promoting their pop and won a free can of reduced sugar root beer. Score! The festival was crowded but the street was so wide that it was pretty easy to walk anywhere. The only real traffic jam of people was at the food truck area. It was very crowded because of the lines spreading towards the middle of the road partially blocking people who were passing by. There was plenty of portapotties evenly placed along the street with minimal wait which is great. They were disgusting inside but that's pretty normal at big festivals. The garbage situation appeared very well maintained because the streets were spotless. It was very easy finding a garbage can so I didn't have to hold onto my litter very long. There was definitely police present for crowd control at every block and walking along the street so i felt completely safe at the festival. COMPARISONS TO THE RICHMOND NIGHT MARKET: Compared to the the richmond night market, richmond tops khatsalano it in terms of variety of asian and fun instagram worthy pic making food. But khatsalano had awesome looking grilled burgers and so many food trucks that filled an entire block. Even more, they had actual restaurants selling food outside their retail shop which you could order from and enjoy eating outside. i didn't see any rides, carnival attractions, or carnival games at this event which richmond night market had a ton of. The music here is phenomenal and the vibes are so way more exciting here. Richmond night market, based on my last visit, appears to invite talent from basically anybody who *thinks* they can sing instead of established artists. The most lively area was only near the food area at richmond night market. Khatsalano was super lively wherever upbeat music was present which was basically around every block. The type of vendors selling stuff at khatsalano is way better. So much more variety of things you could buy instead of knock off anime merch or phone cases or the usual made in china stuff they got a richmond night market. Biggest difference is the admission is 100% free at Khatsalano. Richmond charges 7 bucks per person. (edit: $8.50 as of 2025!) OVERALL: Overall, If there's one free street festival in vancouver you shouldn't miss, it's the Khatsalano street festival. If you haven't been yet, don't miss next years event! 4 stars.

huge crowds turned out for the city's largest free music and art festival, taking over ten car free…read moreblocks along west 4th, from burrard all the way to macdonald. with over 200,000 people in attendance, the energy was high from start to finish. best to take transit or walk, parking is limited and can be a nightmare. caution, many cars get towed, if parked in the wrong spot. we always enjoy this event. it's well organized, lively, and fun for all ages. there were eight stages with live music, licensed beer gardens buzzing with people, and rows of food trucks dishing out everything from tacos to lemonade. water refill stations and a misting station offered some relief from the heat, a thoughtful touch on a hot july day. love all the community booths, tents, and brand pop ups lining the street, from small vendors to big corporate sponsorships. my favourite was the fjällräven tent with its spin the wheel and the ever popular blundstone boot toss where people lined up to test their aim. there was a lot of swag to be had and prizes to be won, some based on luck, others on skill, answering a question or by scanning and entering your name and email. the festival runs for one day, from 11:00 am to 9:00 pm, and everyone we encountered was in great spirits, friendly, patient, and just happy to be part of the fun. a sun soaked day of sound, street eats, and community. wear comfy shoes, bring sunscreen, and stay hydrated, you'll want to soak up every moment.

The St. George's fair has become an annual tradition between my best friend Peter and I. It's more…read moreof a people watching experience than it is about the fair itself. It helped that the weather was really nice and hot which meant that most of the good things were poached by 11 am, an hour after the fair itself opened. It's mostly a large garage sale of designer and name brand high quality stuff at almost designer prices. I scored some brand new expensive kitchen and bake ware at cheap prices. Baking stuff that at retail would've cost me $30. Most of what I grabbed was $1 each brand new. The highlight of our annual fair is the high tea. It's very cheap for a decent high tea at $20 each. It's one of the few places on site that actually takes credit card, especially, since most of us needed cash for the rest of the fair. Of course there was a child on piano entertaining the tea attendees. More likely he was forced to practice hours at home to be that good. The highlight of the music portion of the little kid who played Christmas songs on the flute while facing the wall. It was very Blair Witch. Peter and I had the children's tea which was more likely heated and diluted Kool-Aid but it worked for us. The actual sandwiches and pastries were nice. We found it amusing that the hallway was decorated with children's drawings of Deadpool which was ironic since the kids who made the art weren't even old enough to watch the movie. The line up for the tickets to participate in the fair games was a but disorganized, therefore, I skipped the cake walk this year. This year the parking was paid parking. It was fun watching the parking Olympics.

This place is great! It is owner operated and they let us in after 3:30 even though it closed…read moreafter 4pm. Dont worry if you get locked in, they will let you out :)

Probably I had the wrong expectation. I was thinking contemplative, informative, peaceful,…read moreaccessible. It was shaky, bouncy, busy. There was a large school group of children. There were also people enjoying making the walkways bounce. All of this is fine if it aligns with expectations. In the future I would definitely skip the TreeWalk and focus on other areas of the botanical garden.