Car Free Day Crowds on Commercial

A number of Car Free Day street festivals take place in Vancouver each summer including one on Commercial Drive between Venables and Grandview.

The street party on Commercial Drive used to take place in July. In the last few years, however, the event has been in September. In 2025 Commercial Drive Car Free Day is on Saturday, September 6th (which is the weekend after the Labour Day Holiday). That same day there is also a Car Free Day event in Port Coquitlam, as well as the Everything Electric Canada e-vehicle, electric energy and appliance show at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

This article contains the following information about the event:

Car Free Day on Commercial Drive

Commercial Drive Car Free Day is one of a number of Car Free Day events in the Lower Mainland. Also taking place within the City of Vancouver most years include ones on Main Street and Denman Street. There are more in other parts of the Lower Mainland including in Port Coquitlam, Surrey, New Westminster as just a few examples.

Time and Location

Up until 2016 Commercial Drive Car Free Day was always on Father’s Day in June, the same day as the Main Street Car Free Day event. Since 2017, however, the Commercial Drive event has happened later in the year.

This year’s Commercial Drive Car Free Day is on Saturday, September 6th. Additional details are to be confirmed. Last year’s event ran between 12:00 pm and 7:00 pm. It took place along the eight or so blocks of Commercial Drive between Grandview Highway and 1st Avenue. The 2025 event will likely be the same.

Getting to the Festival

As the festival emphasizes the importance of environmental awareness, try to visit the festival car-free. There are many transit options very close to the festival including bus and SkyTrain routes.

Consult the TransLink website for exact transit scheduling.

About the Festival

The Commercial Drive event is Vancouver’s original Car Free Day event. It first took place in 2005. It’s an environmentally-friendly event where pedestrians retake the street and celebrate life without their cars.

Food trucks, vendors of all kinds and display tables from local businesses and community organizations line the street at Commercial Drive’s Car Free Day. There are street performers, musicians, beer gardens and tens of thousands of people most years.

The event is very family-friendly, with activities for children as well as adults. There are often games of road hockey and the young ones are welcome to play.

There are often also information booths for companies like Vancouver Mysteries and Forbidden Vancouver. The first is an outdoor adventure game company where you and your friends can be detectives, secret agents or superheroes. The other is a great walking tour company. These and other businesses had information about their services and prizes to give away.

Entertainment Schedule (2025)

This year’s event has three different stages featuring live music (whereas the year before there were four). Below iss the performance schedule for 2025.

Jefferson’s Barbershop Stage

The Jefferson’s Barbershop Stage is near the 4th Avenue and Commercial Drive intersection.

12:10 pm – Second Rodeo With Shiloh Lindsey
12:40 pm – Bitchilante
1:10 pm – IRA Stevens Band
1:40 pm – Muncho
2:10 pm – 20 Million People
2:40 pm – Bush Hucker
3:10 pm – Young & Sexy
3:45 pm – Pen Pal Aloha
4:30 pm – Those Things
5:15 pm – Taken By Force
6:00 pm – Bad Beats

The Project Vancity Stage

The Project Vancity Stage is at the 2nd Avenue and Commercial Drive intersection.

11:50 am – Indigenous Welcome
12:30 pm – Melifawn & Chris Clute
1:10 pm – Adam Ambrose & David Doyle
1:50 pm – Lia Lexa & Aulani Murray
2:30 pm – Jeanette Peake & Britney Cheng
3:10 pm – Drew Fields & Hum4nborn
4:30 pm – Matias Roden & Earl Jenkins
5:10 pm – Laryssa Vachon & D.L. Forrest
5:50 pm – Emily Erhart & Jacob Regehr

Support The Scene Stage

This stage is situated close to 5th Avenue and Commercial Drive.

12:30 pm – The Lunchtime Band
1:30 pm – Dusty Pines
2:30 pm – Drag Of It All: Percy Pegg, Skim Heathen, Yuen Young, As*Trix
3:30 pm – Virgulins
4:30 pm – Like Whatever
5:30 pm – Math Club

Car Free Day Video

To give you an idea of what to expect at Car Free Day on Commercial Drive, check out the following video. It shows scenes of the event from 2022.

As you’ll see, on Car Free Day the street is full of people walking in the middle of the road. There are also a few characters in costume and lots of vendors and community organization information booths. At the event there are musicians at various spots along the street and games to play. You can win prizes, shop and learn about the neighbourhood at this and other Vancouver Car Free Day events.

Other Information

To learn more about this event, see the Vancouver Car Free Day website.

To learn more about the area, see our article about Commercial Drive.

Another similar event on the same street earlier in the summer is Italian Day on the Drive. It normally happens in June and it too is a massive street party.

For details about similar Car Free Day events see our articles about the events on Main Street and Denman Street, or the events in Port Moody, Port Coquitlam and Surrey. For information about Car Free Day events in North Vancouver, New Westminster and other areas, click Lower Mainland Car Free Days.

To see a list of other major events throughout the year, check out the Festivals & Events Calendar.