Ladner May Days

Metro Vancouver’s Ladner May Days takes place in Ladner’s Memorial Park on the last weekend of May. It features live music, amusement rides and a parade.

Ladner May Days returned on the weekend of May 24th to 26th in 2024. It’s a great event and admission is free!

For full details about the weekend, see the official Ladner May Days website.

This article contains the following information about Ladner May Days:

Ladner May Days Festival

Established in 1896, Ladner May Days is a free, family-friendly community fair that also features a baseball tournament and various carnival activities. It’s a good-sized event and a wonderfully community-focused one.

There is a midway with rides all weekend. On the Sunday there is the pancake breakfast followed by the Ladner May Days Parade which starts at noon.

For the event’s official website, visit ladnermaydays.com.

May Days Times and Location

Ladner May Days takes place on the weekend after the May Long Weekend. In 2024, the festival happened on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of May 24th to 26th. In 2025, the event will likely happen on the weekend of May 23rd to 25th, although this is to be confirmed. Festivities run on the Friday from 4:00 pm to 10:00 pm, on the Saturday from 11:00 am to 10:00 pm, and on the Sunday from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm.

The fair and amusement rides are at Memorial Park at 5010-47th Avenue in Ladner (which is part of the municipality of Delta, about a 30-minute drive south of Vancouver).

Ladner May Days Activities

At Ladner May Days there are lots of activities for children including face painting, live music and other family-friendly fun. Of course, there is also the midway with rides, the parade, a fastball tournament and lots of other things to see and do.

Every year there are several food trucks on-site offering cuisine from places like Ukraine, Japan, Mexico and Thailand, as well as plant-based dishes, mini donuts, ice cream and other favourites. Various market vendors are also at the event. There are free pony rides, a petting zoo, gold panning opportunities and other activities for kids.

Admission to Ladner May Days is free. However, you have to pay to go on the rides and play the midway games. You also have to pay for any food, drinks and souvenirs you want to buy. The pancake breakfast costs around $8 for adults and $5 for kids (with funds benefiting the Tsawwassen Boundary Bay Lions Club). Pretty much everything else is free!

For the event’s official website, visit ladnermaydays.com.

May Days Midway

In addition to a ball tournament and community parade, one of the main features of Ladner May Days is the midway.

The fair is basically a small-town carnival with Shooting Star Amusements rides, midway games and colourful vendors selling cotton candy, popcorn and caramel apples. It’s a really good carnival fair, and in a nice location.

Unlike many midways, the one at Ladner May Days is primarily on the grass at the park. Consequently, it’s quite pleasant as it’s not dusty or on the hard concrete at a shopping mall as is often the case at similar events.

Midway Times and Prices

Amusement rides typically operate from 4:00 pm to 10:00 pm on the Friday, from 11:00 am until 10:00 pm on the Saturday, and from 11:00 am until 5:00 pm on the Sunday.

Prices for midway amusement rides vary depending on how many tickets you buy at a time. Below were the prices in 2024.

Single Ticket: $1.50 (including GST)
All-Day Wristband: $40

In addition to the above, books of 20 tickets in 2023 cost $30 and books of 40 tickets cost $50. 2024 was likey the same, although exact details were to be confirmed.

The rides are operated by Shooting Star Amusements and each ride in 2024 cost between three and six tickets. Little kid rides like the Mini Helicopters, Space Train and Berry Go Round usually cost three or four tickets. Rides like the Ferris Wheel, Sizzler and Zipper for older youth and adults require between four and six tickets.

TIP #1: If you plan to spend a lot of time on the rides, then the all-day wristband is definitely the best deal!

TIP #2: If you buy your wristband in advance on the Shooting Stars Amusements website, you can save yourself about $10. To get the discount, however, you have to buy your pass in advance of the event.

For the event’s official website, visit ladnermaydays.com.

May Days Parade

In 2024 the Ladner May Days parade took place on Sunday, May 26th, at 12:00 pm with the centre piece being the May Royal Court float. Children love the parade as it’s usually themed. 2024’s parade theme was Jungle Jamboree.

The parade normally starts on Delta Street at the corner with Trenant Street. It then goes east along 48th Avenue a short distance, down Elliot Street, and then along 47th Avenue to Garry Street. It finishes by Memorial Park with the traditional May Pole Dance and the May Royal Court Crowning Ceremony ending the three-day festivities.

To see what the parade looks like, check out the following video. It shows scenes of the event from 2022.

Other May Day Activities

All sorts of other activities take place during Ladner May Days over the course of the weekend including a fastball tournament all three days and a pancake breakfast on the Sunday morning.

TIP: While in town, if the weather is good, go for a stroll along the riverfront. It won’t be a long walk, but it’s a pleasant one.

For the event’s official website, visit ladnermaydays.com.

Schedule of Events

See below for the schedule of events and entertainment at the festival in 2024.

(Note: Schedule details were subject to change and more events may have been added.)

Friday, May 25th, 2024

4:00 pm – 10:00 pm: Shooting Star Amusement Rides
6:30 pm: Ladner May Days Invitational (Fast Pitch)

Saturday, May 25th, 2024

Below were the schedules of activities and entertainment on the Saturday in 2024.

Schedule of Activities

8:00 am: Ladner May Days Invitational Starts (Fast Pitch)
10:00 am – 5:00 pm: Market, gold panning, face painting and more
11:00 am – 10:00 pm: Shooting Star Amusement Rides
12:00 pm – 6:00 pm: Beer Garden
6:00 pm: Ladner May Days Invitational (Final Game Starts)

In addition to the above, between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm there was Gold Panning with Yukon Dan and Tumble Track demonstrations and activities with Delta Gymnastics. Between noon and 4:00 pm there was also Face Painting with A-Star Art Parlour, Balloon Creations by Silly Goose Party Co., a Petting Zoo with Cinemazoo, and Pony Rides with Laughing Stock Ranch.

Main Stage Entertainment Schedule

10:00 am: Delta Community Music School
12:00 pm: Sweet Pan
2:00 pm: Tunnel Vision
4:00 pm: The Retroactives

Sunday, May 26th, 2024

Below were the schedules of activities and entertainment on the Sunday in 2024.

Schedule of Activities

8:00 am: Ladner May Days Invitational Starts
8:00 am – 11:00 am: Pancake Breakfast (at the Memorial Park Gazebo)
10:00 am – 5:00 pm: Market, face painting and more
11:00 am – 5:00 pm: Shooting Star Amusement Rides
12:00 pm – 1:30 pm: May Days Parade
1:30 pm: Crowning of the Court
3:00 pm: Ladner May Days Invitational (Final Game)
12:00 pm – 6:00 pm: Beer Garden

Main Stage Entertainment Schedule

10:30 am: O’Brien School of Irish Dance
1:00 pm: Royal Court Crowning Ceremony
2:00 pm: Chesterfield Kings
4:00 pm: Sound Machine

Ladner May Days Video

For an idea of what Ladner May Days looks like, check out the following video. It shows scenes of the fairgrounds, amusement rides and ball games in 2022.

Other Information

For more information about the event, see the official Ladner May Days website.

For a list of other events in the Lower Mainland, see the Festivals and Events Calendar.

Other top attractions not far from Ladner include the following:

Boundary Bay Regional Park – a nice park with a large sandy beach, walking and cycling trails and a great children’s play area in Tsawwassen.
Deas Island Regional Park – a park on a semi-island on the Fraser River between Delta and Richmond.
Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary – a great place for bird watching on nearby Westham Island.
Ladner Village Market – a summer artisan and farmers market in downtown Ladner on two Sundays a month between June and early September.