Diwali Fest Vancouver

The Lower Mainland celebrates the Diwali Festival in autumn with South Asian cultural celebrations in Vancouver, Surrey and elsewhere.

Diwali Fest usually happens in October. In 2025 there’s also a Colour Fest event at Town Centre Park in Coquitlam on May 10th to celebrate the Holi Festival which marks the start of spring.

2025 is the 22nd anniversary of Diwali Fest. Details about this year’s festival are to be confirmed. For an idea of what to expect, continue reading below for information from last year.

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Diwali Festival in Vancouver and Surrey

Two of the biggest events during the festival each year are Diwali Downtown Surrey and Diwali Downtown Vancouver. Other Diwali Fest events that take place throughout the region usually include plays, storytelling, music and dance performances.

The theme for the 2024 festival was “An Ode to Nature”. Last year’s Diwali Downtown Surrey event ran on October 20th and Diwali Downtown Vancouver was on October 27th. There was also Diwali in Coquitlam on October 18th.

In addition to these “official” festival events, Diwali-themed boat parties usually take place in Vancouver. In 2024 there was a cruise on November 2nd.

Some Diwali Fest events only attract a couple of dozen people or so, but the main Surrey event typically attracts 100 to 200 people, and the Vancouver one often attracts even more. The Diwali-themed boat parties are especially popular.

What is Diwali Fest?

Diwali is an annual Hindu festival of lights celebrated in the fall sometime between mid-October and mid-November. It’s one of the largest and most important festivals in India. People celebrate the festival with small clay lamps and other traditional art forms that symbolize the triumph of good over evil.

In Vancouver, the Diwali Celebration Society hosts Diwali Fest with the aim of uniting people from different cultures through celebratory events.

Diwali Fest is an arts and culture festival that provides an opportunity to experience different elements of South Asian culture. Spread out over a couple weeks (or sometimes up to a month-and-a-half) across the Lower Mainland, it’s a fair-sized festival made up of smaller individual events. Some of the events are free, or admission by donation.

Indian Diwalli Dancer — A Dancer at Diwali Fest Vancouver

Diwali Events

Numerous events take place over the course of Diwali Fest, including in Vancouver, Surrey and Coquitlam. All are free events (or by donation). They typically feature dance performances, live music, ethnic foods and a wide variety of both contemporary and classical Indian and South Asian culture. Diwali-themed dance parties also take place most years.

Diwali Boat Parties

Although not official “Diwali Festival” events, most years there are Diwali-themed boat parties in either October or November in Vancouver. They’re hosted by Vancouver Boat Parties.

In 2024 there was one on Saturday, November 2nd. It was an adults-only (ages 19+) Diwali Fusion Bollywood Boat Party. The cruise took place on the Burrard Queen vessel, which departed from False Creek at 760 Pacific Boulevard (not far from BC Place Stadium and the Plaza of Nations).

Boarding for the party cruise started at 8:00 pm. The boat set sail at around 8:30 pm and returned by 11:30 pm. The trip featured Bollywood-style music, dancing and drinks for purchase.

Ticket prices ranged between around $40 and $75 depending on how far in advance you bought your tickets. Organizers encouraged attendees to wear traditional Indian attire (so there was lots of beautiful and colourful clothing to see)!

To learn more about the event from last year, click Diwali Fusion Bollywood Boat Party. 2025 details may be comparable.

For full details about the events, see the Vancouver Boat Parties website or call 1-888-450-3991.

Diwali Downtown Vancouver

Diwali Downtown Vancouver usually takes place at the Roundhouse Community Centre at 181 Roundhouse Mews in Yaletown. 2024 was no exception. The event ran from 2:00 to 5:00 pm on Sunday, October 27th.

Diwali Downtown Vancouver is normally the largest of the festival’s various free (or by donation) events. It generally offers the most performances, along with the largest selection of vendor stalls and exhibits.

Always expect to be entertained by a selection of dancers and musicians, and to immerse yourself in a bit of East Indian culture. The experience is very interesting. Not all performers at the event are of East Indian descent or origin. The performances themselves, however, are from or at least strongly influenced by the Indian subcontinent.

Diwali Fest at the Roundhouse — Diwali Fest Vancouver at the Roundhouse

Diwali in Coquitlam

Diwali in Coquitlam was another celebration in 2024. It ran from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm on Friday, October 18th, at the Evergreen Cultural Centre. The venue’s address is 1205 Pinetree Way in Coquitlam.

Diwali Downtown Surrey

Diwali Downtown Surrey took place from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm on Sunday, October 20th. The event happened at Surrey City Hall at 13450-104th Avenue.

It isn’t a huge event, attracting less than 200 people at any given time most years (or at least that’s been the case when we’ve attended). The event normally features live entertainment, food trucks, and various arts and crafts. The organizers encourage attendees to wear sparkling attire.

At the 2024 event, Punjabi-Canadian illustrator Anu Chouhan did a public reading of the children’s book Diwali Lights.