Amusement Rides in Vancouver

There are a number of amusement parks and carnival-style events with rides and other attractions in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley each year.

See below for a list of the region’s main events that have Ferris wheels, roller coasters, Tilt-a-Whirls and other fun ride attractions. Some of the best include Playland, the Cloverdale Rodeo, Ladner May Days, Canada Day Celebrations in Surrey, The PNE Fair and Fright Nights.

THE CIRCUS IS COMING IN MAY!

The Royal Canadian International Circus is a fabulous, kid-friendly circus that visits the Lower Mainland in the spring. In 2025 it’s at Guildford Town Centre in Surrey between May 8th and 11th. It’s also in Richmond at Lansdowne Centre from May 15th until the 19th. There aren’t amusements rides at the circus. There are, however, acrobats, clowns and tons of amazing performers that kids love! A roller coaster ride lasts for only a couple of minutes. The circus shows, however, last so much longer (and create even longer-lasting smiles)!

TIP: If you use the promo code VANSBESTPLACES when buying your circus tickets online, you’ll get 2-for-1 pricing on general admission. If you do that, then tickets work out to only $24 each (and that’s including all the taxes and online fees)! That’s a terrific deal!

See the royalcanadiancircus.ca website for tickets and to learn more about the shows.

Lower Mainland Amusement Rides and Attractions

Venues to find amusement rides in the Greater Vancouver region include Playland and the PNE, plus various other places too. A number of community festivals also feature rides like Ferris Wheels, Merry-Go-Rounds and Tilt-a-Whirls, and companies like Shooting Star Amusements and West Coast Amusements set up shop in various places.

Below is a list of some of the Lower Mainland’s best places and events featuring amusement rides each year.

Amusement Parks

Lower Mainland attractions with seasonal amusement rides and similar activities include the following:

Amusement Parks in Metro Vancouver

Playland – suitable for children and youth of all ages that opens in late spring. The PNE Fair runs at the site for a few couple weeks between mid-August and the Labour Day Weekend. In October the Pacific National Exhibition also hosts Fright Nights which is when the amusement park has a Halloween theme.

Amusement Parks in the Fraser Valley

Castle Fun Park – a fun place for kids in Abbotsford with mini golf, go carts, bumper cars, batting cages and more.
Cultus Lake Adventure Park – a miniature Disneyland-like place at Cultus Lake with a mini roller coaster and other theme-park rides.
Cultus Lake Waterpark – home to “BC’s biggest and best” water slides. It’s open during the summer.
Harrison Water Park – a giant inflatable playground on Harrison Lake in the summer.

Events with Amusement Rides

Lower Mainland festivals and events featuring carnival-type rides are listed below.

Amusement Ride Events in Metro Vancouver

Surrey Vaisakhi Festival – a celebration of the Punjabi New Year with a one-day parade and a week-long carnival. The 2025 parade is on Saturday, April 19th, with the carnival rides running from April 10th to 21st.
Cloverdale Rodeo & Country Fair – amusement rides and rodeo shows in Surrey. (May 16th to 19th, 2025)
Ladner May Days – a community event in North Delta with live bands, a parade, petting zoo, amusement rides, pancake breakfast and fastball tournament. (May 23rd to 25th, 2025)
Canada Day Celebrations in Surrey – celebrations include a carnival midway, live entertainment, fireworks and more. (July 1st, 2025)
Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Country Fest – a community festival at the Albion Fairgrounds in Maple Ridge. (July 26th to 27th, 2025)
Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) – an annual fair in Vancouver during the last three weeks of the summer. (August 16th to September 1st, 2025)
Fright Nights at the PNE – haunted houses, rides and other Halloween attractions at Vancouver’s Playland (from early to late October).

Amusement Ride Events in the Fraser Valley

Abbotsford Agrifair – an agricultural fair that includes a midway, amusement rides and lots of animals at Exhibition Park in Abbotsford. (August 1st to 3rd, 2025)
Agassiz Fall Fair & Corn Festival – a community fair in Agassiz with a midway, live music and agricultural activities. (In Mid-September.)
Aldergrove Fair Days – a small-town fair with a parade, chilli cook-off, car show and other family-friendly activities in Aldergrove. (July 18th to 20th, 2025)

Christmas Events With Limited Rides

In addition to the above, there are also Christmas-related festivals and events that feature a small number of rides, like perhaps just a Ferris Wheel, or maybe just two or three attractions.

Bright Nights – Christmas lights and miniature train rides in Stanley Park from late November until the beginning of January.
Christmas Glow – an indoor Christmas attraction in Langley between late November and late December.
Vancouver Christmas Market – an outdoor German-themed market with a carousel at Jack Poole Plaza between mid-November and Christmas Eve.
PNE Winter Fair – a winter holiday attraction with festive lights, live entertainment and ice skating in December. It also usually has bumper cars on ice and a Ferris Wheel.

Carnivals in Parks and Parking Lots

From time to time amusement ride companies set up in parks and shopping mall parking lots. The two main companies that do this are Shooting Star Amusements and West Coast Amusements. Below is information about each company and a list of their events.

Shooting Star Amusements

Shooting Star Amusements is a family-owned business based in Langley. They own 18 or so rides ranging from a Merry-Go-Round to a Ferris Wheel, the Zipper, Zero Gravity and other traditional favourites. They are the company behind the rides at events like the Abbotsford Agrifair, Abbotsford Berry Festival, Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Country Festival and Surrey Canada Day Celebrations.

Tickets for Shooting Star Amusements’ rides typically cost about $1.50 each or twenty for $30 (or at least that was the case the last time we checked). The company also offers all-day wristbands. The prices for those though vary depending on the event. When not using a wristband, each ride requires between three and five tickets.

Although their tickets are non-refundable, a nice thing about Shooting Star Amusements is that their tickets never expire. If you don’t use all your tickets one day you can use them the next day, the following year, or at any of their other events.

Events that usually feature Shooting Star Amusements’ rides are below.

April 10th to 21st, 2025 – Surrey Vaisakhi Carnival beside the Gurdwara Dashmesh Darbar Temple at 12885 85th Avenue.
May 23rd to 25th, 2025 – Ladner May Days at Memorial Park in North Delta.
July 1st, 2025 – Surrey Canada Day Celebrations at the Bill Reid Millennium Amphitheatre.
July 26th and 27th, 2025 – Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Country Festival at the Albion Fairgrounds in Maple Ridge.
August 1st to 3rd, 2025 – Abbotsford Agrifair at Exhibition Park in Abbotsford.

For the latest information about upcoming events visit the Shooting Star Amusements website.

West Coast Amusements at Lansdowne Centre

West Coast Amusements

West Coast Amusements is a larger company. It’s based in Chilliwack, owns over 100 rides, and sets up in more than 100 different places across Western Canada each year.

Tickets for West Coast Amusements’ rides cost around $1.50 each or twenty for $27, or, again, at least they did the last time we checked. They also usually offer all-day wristbands for about $45, but varying slightly depending on the event. Individual rides cost between three and six tickets each.

Attractions with this company include kiddie rides (like a motorcycle merry-go-round and miniature train) as well as ones offering more serious thrills (like the Tornado, the Hulk, Fireball and Starship 3000).

In 2025, West Coast Amusements sets up in shopping mall parking lots on the following dates:

Thursday, March 13th to Sunday, March 16th – at the Chilliwack Coliseum at 45323 Hodgins Avenue.
Friday, March 14th to Sunday, March 23rd – at Guildford Town Centre at 10355 152 Street in Surrey.
Thursday, March 20th to Sunday, March 23rd – at The Junction Shopping Centre at 32525 – 32555 London Avenue in Mission.
Thursday, March 27th to Sunday, March 30th – at Tsawwassen Mills at 5000 Canoe Pass Way in Delta.
Friday, March 28th to Sunday, April 13th – at Lansdowne Centre at 5300 No. 3 Road in Richmond.
Thursday, April 17th to Saturday, April 26th – at Coquitlam Centre at 2929 Barnet Highway in Coquitlam.