ScotFestBC: The BC Highland Games is a Metro Vancouver Scottish festival that takes place in mid-June at Lafarge Lake in Coquitlam.
In 2025 the festival happens on June 20th and 21st which is the Friday and Saturday after the Father’s Day weekend. Other events happening around the same time include Lynn Valley Day, Indigenous Peoples Day Celebrations and Greek Day on Broadway, all of which have free admission. The Vancouver International Jazz Festival also has lots of free concerts that weekend. The Scandinavian Midsummer Festival is another terrific event and it happens on June 21st and 22nd.
For information about other events you might be interested in, see our June Calendar and Festivals & Events article. To learn about ScotFestBC, continue reading.
This article contains information about the following:
Admission | Schedule | Sports, Music & Dance | Workshops & Demos | Entertainment | Sporting Events | Tips & Advice | ScotFestBC Video | Other Information
Click any of the above links to jump to a specific topic, or continue reading to learn all about the event.
ScotFestBC: The BC Highland Games & World Music Festival
ScotFestBC is an annual event featuring athletic competitions, Celtic dancing, live music, whisky tasting and bagpiping! It’s a family-friendly event and lots of fun!
The British Columbia Highland Games take place on the Friday and Saturday of June 20th and 21st in 2025. The event happens by Lafarge Lake at Town Centre Park in Coquitlam. Conveniently, it’s close to the Lafarge Lake-Douglas SkyTrain Station.
ScotFestBC has been a terrific event for decades! If you like live music, cultural events, outdoor markets, athletic competitions, whisky and everything to do with Scotland, you’ll love this event! We highly recommend it!
To see what is where at the festival, click 2025 Festival Map.
Festival Admission
Admission to ScotFestBC and the British Columbia Highland Games on the Friday is free. The only ticketed portion of the evening is the Whisky & Oysters event which costs around $60 per person or $45 if you buy early bird tickets (before June 9th, 2025).
Tickets are required to enter the festival on the Saturday. This year they cost $25 for adults, $20 for students and seniors, and $10 for children (ages 6 to 12) at early bird pricing. General admission costs are about $5 more.
Festival Schedule
The schedule of events in 2025 is listed below. We divide the schedule up into Competitions, Workshops & Demonstrations, and Live Entertainment. Some of the activities take place on the festival’s Main Stage, while others happen in the field and other locations. Many of them overlap with each other.
(Note: The following event times, locations and other details are subject to change.)
Sports, Music and Dance Competitions
Below is the 2025 schedule for the various competitions happening at the festival.
Friday, June 20th, 2025
Town Centre Park
- 5:00 pm – Open Piobaireachd
Saturday, June 21st, 2025
Main Stage
- 8:30 am – Vancouver Open Highland Dancing Championships
In The Meadow
- 8:00 am – BC Pipers’ Association Solo Piping and Drumming Competition
- 2:00 pm – Pipe Band Competitions (Grades 4 and 5)
- 4:15 pm – Pipe Band Competitions (Grades 1 and 2)
In the Heavy Events Field
- 9:00 am – REMAX Scottish Heavy Events Competition
On the Big Tent Stage
- 9:30 am – Highland Dancing Competition
OTHER EVENTS IN COQUITLAM
Other events to look forward to later in the summer are the Celebrate BC Festival and BC Dumpling Festival. Both also take place at Town Centre Park in Coquitlam and have free admission. Celebrate BC is on August 4th (which is the Monday of the BC Day Long Weekend). The BC Dumpling Festival, meanwhile, happens on the following Saturday, on August 9th. Check out these festivals too if you can!
Workshops and Demonstrations
A number of whisky-tasting and other cultural workshops and demonstrations take place in various locations including in the Whisky Tent and the Scottish Cultural Tent.
Friday, June 20th, 2025
- 6:00 pm – Whisky & Oysters
Saturday, June 21st, 2025
- 11:00 am – Annika Wilson: fiddling workshop
- 12:00 pm – Neil MacLean: history of the Highland Games and St. Andrew’s & Caledonian Society
- 1:00 pm – Robert MacDonald: an in-depth history of Scottish kilts
- 2:00 pm – Dr. Leith Davis: “Jacobitism and Cultural Memory, 1688-1820″
- 3:00 pm – Dr. James Acken: exploring cultural history through Highland song
- 4:00 pm – Robyn Carrigan: Learn Gaelic milling frolics and why they were important
Live Entertainment (Non-Competitive Schedule)
Below is the music and live entertainment schedule for 2025. (Note: Times and performer details are subject to change.)
Friday, June 20th, 2025
On the Big Tent Stage
- 5:00 pm – Bob Collins
- 6:30 pm – Friday Night Kick Off Ceilidh
- 7:30 pm – College Trad
- 8:15 pm – Tiller’s Folly
Saturday, June 21st, 2025
On the Big Tent Stage
- 1:00 pm – Bob Collins
- 2:15 pm – College Trad
- 3:15 pm – Tiller’s Folly
- 4:00 pm – Mariachi Los Dorados and The Wee Drams
- 6:00 pm – Finlay MacDonald & Ali Hutton
- 6:45 pm – College Trad
- 7:45 pm – Tiller’s Folly
In The Meadow
- 1:15 pm – Delta Police Pipe Band
- 5:00 pm – Massed Pipe Bands
In the Cultural Tent
- 3:45 pm – Robyn Carrigan
Sporting Events
In addition to bagpiping and dancing events, the BC Highland Games also includes Heavy Events competitions which are open to athletes ages 19+ (although competitors ages 16 to 18 can register if they have a parent’s permission). Registration for the events closes a couple weeks before the games.
There are usually three categories of Heavy Events: Distance Events; Height Events; and the Caber Toss.
Distance competitions include the Stone Putt, Weight for Distance Throws and the Scottish Hammer Toss.
Height Events include the Weight Over Bar competition which involves throwing a 56-pound weight (for men) or a 28-pound weight (for women) over a bar. Similarly, the Sheaf Toss involves throwing a 10- to 20-pound simulated bale of hay over a bar with a pitchfork.
The Caber Toss is the event where contestants throw giant poles as far as they can, with each pole weighing from 70 pounds to 130 pounds and being between 15 feet and 23 feet long.
Tips & Advice
Below are some suggestions to help you make the most of your visit to the BC Highland Games.
TIP #1: Take public transit if you can. The Lafarge Lake – Douglas SkyTrain Station is right next to the site and there are bus stops as well.
TIP #2: If you can only stay for a short time, then go in the afternoon. That’s when things are most interesting.
TIP #3: If you want to attend one of the Whisky School Classes, register early as they usually sell out well in advance.
TIP #4: If you plan to compete in the Heavy Events, be sure to register at least two weeks prior to the day of the games. Also, be sure to prepare well and know what you’re doing! The weights are heavy and you don’t want to injure yourself!
TIP #5: Wear your tartan if you have some! You’ll fit right in!
ScotFestBC Video
Below is a video to give you an idea of what to expect at ScotFestBC: The BC Highland Games. It features pipe bands and clips of other live entertainment from the 2022 event.
Other Information
For further details about the event, see the ScotFestBC: British Columbia Highland Games website. And for information about a similar event on Vancouver Island, check out the Victoria Highland Games & Celtic Festival which takes place in May.
To learn about the town and surrounding area, see our article about the City of Coquitlam.
For other events taking place in the Lower Mainland, check out the following:
- Vancouver’s June Calendar and July Calendar
- Festivals & Events Calendar
- Father’s Day Weekend Events
- Free June Events
- Free July Events
