The Chilliwack Sunflower Festival has a new name and location as of 2023. It’s now the Harrison Sunflower Festival and it takes place near Harrison Hot Springs.

The festival’s first day in 2023 was August 22nd. It’s last day of the season was September 17th.

Note: The Harrison Sunflower Festival didn’t return in 2024. It’s not happening in 2025 either, and it’s unlikely to take place again in the foreseeable future. The Harrison Tulip Festival, however, is happening in 2025. For the latest details about the Harrison Tulip Festival visit the harrisontulipfest.com website.

The Harrison Sunflower Festival

2023 was the first year of the Harrison Sunflower Festival. From 2018 to 2022, the attraction was in Chilliwack. It moved to Agassiz which is about 25 kms away from the previous site.

The Harrison Sunflower Festival in 2023 was very similar to the Chilliwack version, just at a different location. There were still around 15 acres of sunflowers, dahlias and other types of flowers in bloom. Guests were also able to check out some non-flower displays and play some games.

The 2023 Harrison Sunflower Festival’s opening date was August 22nd. The festival closed for the season on September 17th.

NOTE: After the sunflower festival season ended, there was still lots to see at the same farm in October. That’s because the Harrison Pumpkin Festival happened. In 2023 the pumpkin festival ran from September 29th until October 29th. It’s unlikely to return in the foreseeable future.

Harrison Sunflower Festival Farm Barn — 5039 Lougheed Highway in Agassiz

Where was the Festival?

The Harrison Sunflower Festival was at 5039 Lougheed Highway in Agassiz. The festival fields were next to Cameron Road close to the turn-off for Harrison Hot Springs.

There was free parking on-site which was great since there was no other way to get there besides driving (or maybe cycling). The place was about a 90-minute journey from Vancouver to the festival. Both the festival and Harrison area are beautiful, so it was definitely worth the trip!

2023 Hours and Rates

The festival ran daily from 10:00 am to 7:30 pm. The latest that people could arrive at the fields, however, was 6:30 pm. When it ran in 2023, its dates were August 22nd to September 17th (although exact details varied subject to the weather and growing conditions).

Below were the prices from 2023. The prices listed were the ticket cost at the gate. Tickets purchased online 24 hours or more in advance cost $5 less.

Adults (ages 13 to 64): $15 on weekdays, $20 on weekends
Seniors (ages 65+): $12 on weekdays, $17 on weekends
Children (ages 3 to 12): $10 on weekdays, $15 on weekends

Children under the age of 3 had free admission. Season passes were usually available for purchase as well. At the Chilliwack Festival in previous years, season passes were around $70.

There was also a special deal for nearby residents on Thursdays. Known as Local Days, those who lived in the Fraser Valley could visit the festival for just $5. “Locals” included people who were permanent residents of Chilliwack, Abbotsford, Mission, Agassiz/Kent, Harrison Hot Springs, Hope and the Fraser Canyon region.

Visit the Harrison Sunflower Festival website for tickets and full details.

What to Expect

When it happened, the Harrison Sunflower Festival was home to nearly 15 acres of flowers with 3 kms of pathways winding through them. The flowers weren’t all in bloom at the same time. They were set up in a way that the blooming was staggered throughout the run of the festival. This meant that the site looked fairly different in August compared to September.

The last time the festival ran, it had around 45 different kinds of sunflowers. On top of that there were dozens of varieties of dahlias, zinnias and cosmos. Some of the sunflowers were nearly 10 feet tall!

Along with the flowers there were some other sights to check out. There was a windmill, horse carriage, vintage car, swing sets and more. There was a food truck on-site selling food and there were free lawn games too.

Buying Flowers at the Festival

The Harrison Sunflower Festival had a farm store next to the fields where guests could purchase freshly cut flowers as well as bulbs and seeds.

There was also the U-Pick field which was specifically for guests who wished to cut and purchase their own flowers. There were five varieties of sunflowers in this field and they were just a couple of dollars or so per stem.

Click harrisonsunflowerfest.com for the attraction’s official website.

Tulip Festival and Pumpkin Patch

The relocation of the sunflower festival to Harrison in 2023 also included the return of the Harrison Tulip Festival. Harrison was home to the first tulip festival in BC in 2006, and it stayed there for a decade before moving to Chilliwack (where it was known first as Tulips of the Valley and then the Chilliwack Tulip Festival). The new Harrison Tulip Festival ran from April 6th until May 5th in 2024. It’s back in 2025 as well.

Also new a couple of years ago was the Harrison Pumpkin Festival at the same venue as the sunflower festival. It ran from September 29th to October 29th in 2023, so until a couple of days before Halloween. It didn’t take place in 2024 and likely won’t happen again in the near future.