Metro Vancouver’s Fort Langley Jazz & Arts Festival features live music, art and both free and ticketed concerts. It also includes the Cool Blues Show.
In 2026 the festival runs from July 23rd to 26th. The Cool Blues Show is part of the festival and takes place at Fort Langley Community Park on July 24th and 25th. It’s an awesome event!
For details about the festival, see below or visit the official Fort Langley Jazz & Arts Festival website.
COOL BLUES SHOW
The Cool Blues Show happens on Friday, July 24th and Saturday July 25th in 2026. The event features great live music as well as food trucks, art installations and more at Fort Langley Community Park. The event also offers a beer garden as well as a wine and whisky tasting lounge.
There will be 8 artists performing at the Cool Blues Show in 2026 including headliners Samantha Martin and Delta Sugar. The rest of their performance lineup has not yet been announced. The artists that performed last year included the following:
- Bywater Call
- Jimmy D. Lane Band
- Robert Connely Farr Duo
- Brandon Isaak & his Saints of Swing
- Steve Marriner & Local Electric
- Angelique Francis
For more information about the festivities, visit the fortlangleyjazzfest.com website.
Fort Langley Jazz & Arts Festival 2026
In 2026 the Fort Langley Jazz & Arts Festival runs from Thursday, July 23rd, until Sunday, July 26th. The festival happens in Fort Langley which is a beautiful historic village. In past years, there have been fundraisers and other events before the July festival, but none have been confirmed yet for 2026. Below are some of the events that took place in 2025.
The first event of the 2025 season was a fundraiser at Fort Langley Community Hall. The Cuban Jazz Dance Party Fundraiser took place at 7:00 pm on Friday, May 30th. It featured music with the Julio Avila Cuban Band, salsa dance lessons, and a silent auction (with proceeds supporting the festival in July).
On July 13th and 20th there was the Youth Concert Series Showcase. It was a set of free performances by local jazz bands outside the Fort Langley Historic CNR Station leading up to the festival. There were more youth performances during the main event weekend of July 26th and 27th as well.
Click Fort Langley Jazz for the festival’s official website.
Events at the Main Festival in 2025
On the first day of the actual festival in 2025, so on Thursday, July 24th, there was the Big Band Concerts & Swing Dance at the Fort Langley Community Hall Ballroom. The day featured two separate ticketed events.
The first was a concert with the Vancouver Legacy Jazz Orchestra between 1:00 and 3:00 pm. Tickets cost about $28 each. The second part of the event featured a swing dance lesson from 7:00 to 8:00 pm, followed by a concert and dance session from 8:00 to 11:00 pm. Music in the evening was also by the Vancouver Legacy Jazz Orchestra, but with special guest vocalist Tom Arntzen. Tickets for the nighttime event cost about $39 each.
Then on the Friday (July 25th in 2025), there was the Cool Blues Show at Fort Langley Community Park. It was a ticketed event that started at 4:00 pm. The one-day event also offered a beer garden, food trucks, market vendors, games and more. Tickets cost $70 in advance and $80 at the door.
At 2025’s Cool Blues Show, there was a new Angry Otter Whisky Tasting Lounge. Tickets were sold separately for about $28 each. Admission to the section includes a guided tasting flight of Canadian whiskies, a commemorative glass and more.
The headliners for the 2025 Cool Blues show were Bywater Call (a soul and rock band that’s one of the current Canadian breakout groups), Jimmy D. Lane (a member of the Chicago Blues Hall of Fame), Robert Connely Farr Duo (Maples Blues Awards nominees), Brandon Isaak & his Saints of Swing (multi-time JUNO award nominee), Steve Marriner & Local Electric (JUNO award winner), and Angelique Francis (who has played events across the globe).
Weekend Events at the Festival
Another ticketed event that happened in 2025 was A Tribute to Aretha Franklin. It took place from 8:00 to 11:00 pm on Saturday, July 26th, at the Fort Langley Community Hall Ballroom. The event featured the music of Aretha Franklin performed by the Siobhan Walsh Group. Admission cost about $50 each.
The Mardi Gras Strolling Parade returned in 2025. There were also lots of free concerts to enjoy on outdoor stages throughout the weekend. You could find activities for kids, market vendors, art workshops and more on the Saturday and Sunday.
The festival closed with the Jazz AWE event on Sunday, July 27th. It took place at St. Andrew’s Chapel at 9025 Glover Road from 5:00 to 6:00 pm. It’s a Sunday church experience with a twist, as the event features live jazz with Darlene Cooper.
For tickets and full details, see the Fort Langley Jazz & Arts Festival website.
Mardi Gras Strolling Parade Video
A tradition at the Fort Langley Jazz & Arts Festival is the annual Mardi Gras Strolling Parade. In 2025 the event happened on Saturday, July 26th, at 9:00 am.
The following video of the parade was taken at the festival in 2020, so when it was scaled down due to COVID-19. It’ll give you a rough idea of what you can expect at this year’s event. It was a live march, but filmed in mid-August so it could be featured later as a virtual parade for 2020’s Jazz at Home event on the Labour Day Weekend. As you’ll see in the video, around 24 musicians and other characters in costume participated.
Art at the Festival
The Fort Langley Jazz and Arts Festival isn’t just a music festival. It’s also an arts festival. That means each year local artists showcase their work at the event.
In 2025 there was an Art & Culture Zone across the street from the Community Hall. It’s where you can find impressive artwork, craft activities, and various art-related workshops over the weekend.
Other Information
To learn more about the art displays and concerts, visit the fortlangleyjazzfest.com website or see our main article about the Fort Langley Jazz & Arts Festival.
To learn more about the area, see our articles about Fort Langley and the Fraser Valley.
Other articles that might be of interest include the following:
- Vancouver’s Shows & Entertainment Calendar
- Jazz in the Vine in Langley
- Lower Mainland Festivals & Events
- Vancouver International Jazz Festival
- Vancouver Events in July
