Metro Vancouver’s Ladner May Days takes place in Ladner’s Memorial Park on the last weekend of May and features live music, amusement rides and a parade.
FESTIVAL STATUS IN 2021
To help prevent the spread of COVID-19, Ladner May Days Festival was cancelled in 2020. The in-person event isn’t happening again in 2021. In its place, however, are a number of online activities. See below for details.
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 medium-sized event and a good community-focused one.
The fair’s special feature on the Friday is usually discounted midway amusement rides for kids. On the Sunday there is the pancake breakfast followed by the Ladner May Days Parade, which is a “community-style” parade starting at noon.
What’s Happening in 2021?
In 2021, because of COVID-19, May Days is happening as a virtual event. There is an online Virtual Market. It runs from May 16th until May 30th. Items are available for sale via the Ladner May Days’ Virtual Market Facebook page. To participate you have to join the Facebook Group.
The festival is also planning to have a virtual parade where people can submit their own video footage. For details about the parade, see the Ladner May Day‘s website.
Ladner May Days also hopes to have some online entertainment in 2021. Exact details, however, are to be confirmed. For more information click 2021 Festival Entertainment.
May Days Times and Location
In years when the live event takes place, 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 festivities usually run on the last or second-to-last weekend of May on the Friday from 4 to 10 pm, on the Saturday from 10 am to 10 pm, and on the Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm.
Ladner May Days typically takes place on the weekend after the May Long Weekend (which means the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of May 28-30 in 2021).
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 also food trucks and other market vendors. There are also usually free pony rides, a petting zoo, paddle boats, gold panning opportunities and a tumbling tent for kids.
May Days Midway
In addition to a baseball 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 West Coast Amusements’ rides, midway games and colourful vendors selling cotton candy, popcorn and caramel apples. It’s a pretty 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
For 2020 the amusement rides were scheduled to be open from 4 pm to 10 pm on the Friday, from 10 am until 10 pm on the Saturday, and from 10 am until 6 pm on the Sunday.
Prices for midway amusement rides vary depending on when you go. General ticket prices for 2019 (the last year the live event took place) were the following:
- Single Ticket: $1.25
- Book of 20 Tickets: $25.00
- Book of 40 Tickets: $45.00
- All Day Wristband: $40:00
The rides are operated by West Coast Amusements and each ride costs between 3 and 7 tickets.
TIP #1: In recent years rides have been extra cheap on the first day of the festival. On the Friday in 2019, for example, tickets cost just $2 and each ride took just one or two tickets. Future years may be similar, with rides being $3 each, instead of the $2 per ticket. On the Saturday and Sunday, however, rides are usually the full price.
TIP #2: If planning to take advantage of the cheap rides on the first day, get there early as it gets pretty crowded by evening time.
May Days Live Entertainment
Live entertainment takes place at Ladner May Days at various times throughout the weekend. Groups that performed in 2019 included the following:
- The Delta Concert Band – an adult band with members from across the Lower Mainland. They are scheduled to perform on the Saturday at 1:30 pm on the Main Stage.
- Roadside Attraction – A Tragically Hip Tribute – will be playing the Main Stage from 3:30 to 5:30 on Saturday.
- None of the Above – performs on the Main Stage from 3:30 to 5:30 on Sunday.
May Days Parade
Ladner May Days parade usually takes place starting at noon on Sunday.
The parade starts on Delta Street at the corner with Trenant Street. It then goes east along 48th Avenue a short distance, then down Elliot Street, and then along 47th Avenue to Garry Street. It finishes by Memorial Park.
Other May Day Activities
All sorts of other activities take place during Ladner May Days over the course of the weekend including a men’s fastball tournament all three days, a petting zoo on both the Saturday and Sunday, 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.
Schedule of Events
Below is the schedule of activities for 2019’s Ladner May Days to give you an idea of what to expect for future events.
(Note: Schedule details are subject to change.)
Friday, May 24, 2019
- 4 pm – 10 pm: West Coast Amusements
- 7 pm: Ladner May Days Invitational (Fast Pitch)
Saturday, May 25, 2019
- 8 am – 6 pm: Ladner May Days Invitational (Fast Pitch)
- 10 am – 5 pm: Ladner May Days Market
- 11 am – 10 pm: West Coast Amusements
- 11 am – 5 pm: Paddle Boats
- 11 am – 5 pm: Gold Panning with Yukon Dan
- 11 am – 5 pm: Delta Gymnastics Tumbling Tent
- 11:30 am – 4 pm: A-Star Art Parlor
- 12 pm – 6 pm: Happy Watering Hole
- 1 pm – 4 pm: Petting Zoo & Pony Rides
- 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm: Delta Concert Band
- 3:30 pm – 5:30 pm: Roadside Attraction: A Tragically Hip Tribute
Saturday performances on the Main Stage include the following:
- 12 pm – 12:30 pm: Circus Act
- 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm: Delta Concert Band
- 3:30 pm – 5:30 pm: Roadside Attraction: A Tragically Hip Tribute
Sunday, May 26, 2019
- 8 am – 11 am: Pancake Breakfast
- 8 am – 3 pm: Ladner May Days Invitational (Fast-pitch)
- 10 am – 5 pm: Ladner May Days Market
- 11 am – 6 pm: West Coast Amusements
- 11 am – 5 pm: Paddle Boats
- 11 am – 5 pm: Stories on Wheels
- 11 am – 5 pm: Gold Panning with Yukon Dan
- 11 am – 5 pm: Delta Gymnastics Tumbling Tent
- 11 am – 5 pm: Petting Zoo & Pony Rides
- 11:30 am – 4:30 pm: Delta Parks and Rec Tent
- 11:30 am – 3:00 pm: A-Star Art Parlour
- 12 pm – 1 pm: May Days Parade
- 12 pm – 6 pm: Happy Watering Hole
Sunday performances on the Main Stage included the following:
- 9:30 am – 10:30 am: Community Worship Service
- 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm: May Pole Dance and Crowning of the 2019 May Queen
- 3:30 pm – 5:30 pm: None of the Above Band
Other Information
For more information 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.
