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 2025 the festival runs from July 24th to 27th. The Cool Blues Show is part of the festival and takes place at Fort Langley Community Park on July 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 25th in 2025. The event features great live music as well as food trucks, art installations, a beer garden and more at Fort Langley Community Park.
Artists performing at the Cool Blues Show include the Jimmy D. Lane Band, Robert Connely Farr Duo, Brandon Isaak & his Saints of Swing, Steve Marriner & Local Electric, and Angelique Francis.
For more information about the festivities, visit the fortlangleyjazzfest.com website.
Fort Langley Jazz & Arts Festival 2025
In 2025 the Fort Langley Jazz & Arts Festival runs from Thursday, July 24th, until Sunday, July 27th. The festival happens in Fort Langley which is a beautiful historic village.
The first event of the 2025 season is a fundraiser at Fort Langley Community Hall. The Cuban Jazz Dance Party Fundraiser takes place at 7:00 pm on Friday, May 30th. It features music with the Julio Avila Cuban Band, salsa dance lessons, and a silent auction (with proceeds supporting the festival in July).
This year, on July 13th and 20th there’s the Youth Concert Series Showcase. It’s a set of free performances by local jazz bands outside the Fort Langley Historic CNR Station leading up to the festival. There are more youth performances during the main event weekend of July 26th and 27th as well.
Details about other 2025 events should be announced at the end of April.
Events at the Main Festival
On the first day of the actual festival in 2024, so on Thursday, July 25th, there was A Tribute to Duke Ellington. The ticketed event started at 1:00 pm in the Fort Langley Community Hall’s ballroom. It included music by the Fred Stride Jazz Orchestra. The opening event at the 2025 festival is to be confirmed as of mid-March.
Then on the Friday (July 25th in 2025), there’s the Cool Blues Show at Fort Langley Community Park. It’s a ticketed event that starts at 4:00 pm. The one-day event also offers a beer garden, food trucks, market vendors, games and more. Tickets cost $70 in advance and $80 at the door.
The headliners for the 2025 Cool Blues show are 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).
The list of all the performances at the 2025 festival is TBC as of mid-March. The scheduled release date is April 30th.
The Mardi Gras Strolling Parade returned in 2024. There were also lots of free concerts to enjoy on outdoor stages throughout the weekend. You could expect to see activities for kids, market vendors, art workshops and more on the Saturday and Sunday.
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 2024 the event happened on Saturday, July 27th, at 9:30 am. It will likely happen around the same time in 2025.
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 next 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.
Each year there is an Art Zone across the street from the Community Hall. It’s where you could find impressive artwork, an outdoor painting challenge, 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
