Canada Day in Burnaby is celebrated on July 1 at Burnaby Village Museum, Edmonds Community Centre and Swangard Stadium in various ways and different times.

Click any of the following to jump to a specific Burnaby Canada Day venue, or continue reading to learn about all of Burnaby’s 2018 Canada Day celebrations:

Burnaby Village | Edmonds Plaza | Swangard Stadium

July 1st in Burnaby

Canada Day celebrations at Burnaby Village run from about 11:00 am to 4:30 pm and make for an entertaining time to visit the historic outdoor museum.

Festivities at Edmonds Plaza and Park are fairly small and simple and run from 11:00 am to 2:30 pm.

Celebrations at Swangard Stadium take place in the evening, from 5:00 to 10:00 pm, and are Burnaby’s largest and most popular July 1st event, especially for younger adults. All three events are free. Take your pick!

Canada Day at Burnaby Village

Canada Day festivities at Burnaby Village Museum run from 11 am to 4:30 pm and most years include photo opportunities with vintage cars and RCMP officers in their red uniforms, old-fashioned games, face painting, a mini parade and Canada Day birthday cupcakes.

There is also live entertainment at Burnaby Village on Canada Day including drumming performances, fiddlers, First Nations dancers and more. The headliner performer for 2018 was Folk Indie musician Ginalina.

The festivities at Burnaby Village are Burnaby’s “official” Canada Day celebrations. They are free and both fun and educational. Burnaby Village Museum is also a great place to explore on a regular day, so all the extra activities make July 1st an especially fine day to visit.

Burnaby Village Entertainment

For a sample of what to expect, here is the performance schedule for July 1st at Burnaby Village in 2018:

• 11:00 am – Coastal Wolf Pack (a group of Indigenous singers and dancers)
• 12:00 pm – Katari Taiko (Japanese drumming)
• 12:15 pm – Academie Duello (sword-fighting demonstrations)
• 12:30 pm – Karima Essa (participatory Bhangra and Bollywood dancing)
• 1:00 pm – Tian-Jin Temple (Chinese drumming and dancing)
• 1:15 pm – Academie Duello
• 1:45 pm – (mini) Canada Day Parade
• 2:15 pm – Rene Hugo Sanchez & Friends
• 2:30 pm – Canada Day Cupcakes
• 2:30 pm – Academie Duello
• 2:45 pm – Ginalina (a kid-friendly singer and entertainer)
• 3:00 pm – Rene Hugo Sanchez & Friends

Burnaby Village is located at 6501 Deer Lake Avenue just off Canada Way at the edge of Deer Lake Park.

TIP: Deer Lake is beautiful. Take a picnic to enjoy the park either before or after visiting Burnaby Village Museum. Also take good walking shoes for a stroll around the lake, and maybe even your swimsuit for paddling at the beach.

For more information on the museum, click Burnaby Village.

For further details on the July 1st event, click Burnaby Village on Canada Day.

Canada Day at Edmonds Plaza

Canada Day in the Plaza at Edmonds Community Centre is a fairly simple affair. It takes place outdoors at 7433 Edmonds Street and includes various family-friendly things like bingo, face painting and craft-making activities.

At the Edmonds Community Centre event you can also expect live entertainment by local community performers, birthday cake and young families from the local area. Running from 11:00 in the morning until about 2:30 in the afternoon, it’s not a large or fancy event, but it’s free and nice and convenient for locals with children.

Activities on July 1, 2018, included live entertainment, face painting for kids, birthday cake and various family-friendly activities. There was also a Loonie Swim indoors at the rec centre from 11:00 am until 4:00 pm. The cost for that, not surprisingly, was $1 per person.

Performing at the Canada Day celebrations at Edmonds Community Centre on July 1st in 2018 were Stephen Scaccia, Blackthorn and Rainshadow.

Canada Day at Swangard Stadium

Swangard Stadium is where the after party to the Canada Day festivities elsewhere in Burnaby takes place.

Located at 3883 Imperial Street (where Boundary Road and Kingsway meet), the free Swangard Stadium event runs from 5 pm to 10 at night and features free concerts and a fireworks display.

In 2018 free Canada Day concerts at Swangard Stadium included performances by Said the Whale, DJ Khanvict and The Boom Booms.

Typically gates open at 5:00 pm, the concerts start at 6:30 with the fireworks beginning at dusk.

TIP: Swangard Stadium is located at the northwest corner of Burnaby’s beautiful Central Park. Arrive early for the event to improve your chances of finding parking, and then go explore the park’s forested trails. Take a picnic, and maybe even your swimsuit for a swim in the Central Park Outdoor Pool.

More information

For more information on Canada Day in Burnaby, see the City of Burnaby‘s website.

For Canada Day events elsewhere in Metro Vancouver, check out Canada Day in the Lower Mainland.

For other major events in the Lower Mainland at different times of the year, check out the Festivals and Events Calendar. And for Vancouver’s next major festival which takes place on the following weekend, check out Carnaval del Sol.