Vancouver International Dance Festival

The Vancouver International Dance Festival, or VIDF, is an annual festival that celebrates the art of contemporary dance.

In 2025 the festival ran from March 2nd to 22nd. Other events happening around the same time included the Festival du Bois francophone festival and Coastal First Nations Dance Festival. In March there were also shows with First Impressions Theatre, Presentation House Theatre and Highlands United Productions on the North Shore as well as concerts with Chor Leoni, Jim Byrnes and the Vancouver Welsh Men’s Choir. There was also the Agatha Christie murder-mystery And Then There Were None with Metro Theatre. 2026 details are to be confirmed.

To learn about other great things to see this month, check out our March Calendar of Events or article about Shows & Entertainment. To learn about the Vancouver International Dance Festival, continue reading.

This article contains the following information about the festival:

About the VIDF | Where and When | Other Dance Events | Other Information

Vancouver’s Annual Dance Festival

The Vancouver International Dance Festival celebrates its 26th year in 2025. The event featured both local and internationally-known dance artists, and usually takes place over a few weeks in February and/or March.

Highlights of the festival most years include the dance performances themselves, and also workshops and other dance-related activities.

About the VIDF

The Kokoro Dance company started the Vancouver International Butoh Festival in 1998. Two years later the festival was renamed the Vancouver International Dance Festival and it has been running ever since.

The VIDF celebrates contemporary dance artists from across the world. 2025 offered in-person performances at various locations in Metro Vancouver.

Where and When

The 2025 VIDF ran from March 2nd to 22nd. The main productions happened between March 5th and 15th, with other “offsite” events happening before and after those dates. There were over 15 different performances to check out, and also some workshop classes that are open to the public. 2026 will likely be similar, but with exact details to be confirmed.

Locations included the Vancouver Playhouse, Orpheum Annex, Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre, Training Society of Vancouver, 312 Main and also the UBC Museum of Anthropology. This year’s lineup featured Charles Koroneho, Hoor Malas, Lorin Sookool, Elie-Anne Ross, and many more.

Tickets for performances ranged from about $25 to $60 depending on the show and also the day you pick. You can purchase a Festival Pass for $300 which includes access to every show, a 4-Show Pass for $100, or a Day Pass for $75 (on days when there are multiple shows happening).

Click VIDF 2025 for more details about this year’s shows.

Other Vancouver Dance Events

A few other dance-related events take place in the Lower Mainland each year. Carnaval del Sol, for example, is a Latin festival in the summer that showcases different kinds of performances and activities including Latin dancing.

Just a few of the many other Lower Mainland festivals that feature a fair amount of dancing include the Vancouver Street Dance Festival, the Chutzpah Festival, and Hoobiyee (a Nisga’a First Nation event) in Vancouver.

There’s also the 5X Festival (formerly called the City of Bhangra Festival) in both Vancouver and Surrey, the North Vancouver Polish Festival, the Coastal First Nations Dance Festival in New Westminster, and ScotFestBC in Coquitlam.

In addition to the above, free Salsa dance lessons also often take place in Vancouver at Robson Square in the summer.