Punchbowl Festival in Vancouver

A big drinks-tasting festival held at the PNE, Punchbowl is a day of beverages, food and music with a huge variety of different vendors to sample.

Punchbowl Festival of Cocktails and Tacos

The Punchbowl Festival was first held in 2019 and featured music and dozens of vendors selling drinks and food. The event was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19. It’s roared back to life in the years since then. The fourth addition happens on July 27th, 2024.

Drinks, live music and tacos define Punchbowl. The event’s tagline is “festival of cocktails & tacos,” but there are also beers, wine, ciders and spirits to sample.

Where is Punchbowl?

Punchbowl takes place at the PNE Forum on the PNE Fairgrounds located in Hastings Park. There are two tasting sessions at the festival. There is the afternoon tasting session from 11:30 am to 3:30 pm and the evening tasting session from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm. The two tastings are basically identical with the same prices and vendors. The only real difference is the time.

Pre-sale tickets cost $30 this year. Prices continue to go up until the event itself takes place. The full price for tickets is $55. Admission includes a souvenir tasting cup.

What to Expect

You can expect around 70 different breweries and distilleries to take part in the festival. Over 250 different drinks are available to sample with most samples priced around $2 to $4 each. No food or drinks vouchers are included with admission. You can enjoy as much as you’d like at the event.

Punchbowl uses a cashless system for the most part to pay for the food and drinks. Cash is accepted at some parts of the festival but most places only accept credit cards. So, be ready to pay for everything online when you go to the festival!

Live music is a big component of the event. The theme for Punchbowl in 2024 is 2000’s throwbacks. There are multiple DJs playing at the event. DJs Kutcorners and Hush Music Party are there for both tastings this year. There are also special guests; DJ Flipout in the afternoon and DJ Seko in the evening.