Car Free Day on Main Street is a Vancouver street party-style festival with live music, market vendors, family-friendly entertainment and thousands of people.
In 2026 the event takes place on Sunday, September 13th.
See our September Calendar of Events to learn about what else is happening this time of year. Continue reading for information about Vancouver’s Car Free Day event on Main Street from previous years.
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About Main Street Car Free Day | Entertainment Lineup | Event Video | Other Car Free Day Events | Other Information
Car Free Day on Main Street
Car Free Day on Main Street is just one of several Car Free Day events in the Lower Mainland. Another Vancouver Car Free Day event happens at Commercial Drive on September 5th this year. There used to be an event on Denman Street as well, but that hasn’t been the case for the last few years.
All three of the above events are all put on by the same Car Free Day organization. Elsewhere in the Lower Mainland there are other car free day events including ones in Surrey, Port Moody and Port Coquitlam.
About Main Street Car Free Day
Main Street Car Free Day used to happen on the afternoon of the Father’s Day Sunday in June. A few years ago, however, the event shifted to September.
The street party was originally cancelled for 2026. Fortunately, thanks to funding and help from the City of Vancouver, the event is taking place after all!
This year’s Main Street Car Free Day takes place on Sunday, September 13th. The event runs from 12:00 pm to 7:00 pm and covers blocks from 10th Avenue to King Edward. It’s a big event. There are normally live bands, street performers and market vendors. Mini beer gardens, food trucks, and extended restaurant patios are there most years too.
Of all of Vancouver’s various Car Free Day Festivals, the Main Street event is typically the largest.
2026 Main Street Car Free Day Entertainment
The 2026 entertainment lineup is below. Exact performance times and stage details are to be confirmed.
- Dom Duchamp
- YUYA61
- Mamalia
- DJ Carlyle Mark
- David Haynes
- Funknstein Fantasy
- Telecoma
- Ardeshir Trio
- MAQ4
- Itamar Erez
- DJ Natü
- Percy Pegg
- The James T. Kirks
- DJ WhySoSerious
- DJ AURLFX\TN
- Mx Black Ice
- Peter Packer
- Blueejoy
- Michelangela
- Abby Pierrot
- Laughing Mirrors & Minksy Paris
- Tonk
Main Street Car Free Day Video
Check out the video below for an idea of what to expect at Main Street Car Free Day. The video was filmed at the 2022 event. As you can see, there are lots of market vendors, food trucks and live performances to enjoy.
Other Car Free Day Events
In 2026 Commercial Drive Car Free Day takes place one weekend before the event on Main Street.
Other Car Free Day events happening elsewhere in the Lower Mainland include Car Free Day Port Coquitlam, and events in Surrey, Port Moody, Burnaby, Maple Ridge and North Vancouver (the last of which is part of that city’s Shipyards Festival).
FOOD TRUCKS IN METRO VANCOUVER
If you like food truck food, then you’ll definitely want to attend events hosted by the Greater Vancouver Food Truck Festival (GVFTF). Some of its own events include Food Truck Fest at UBC, Cloverdale Food Truck Wars and Chilliwack Party in the Park in the spring. In the summer there are the White Rock Night Markets and Chilliwack Ribfest.
If you are an event organizer, and your event needs food trucks and you don’t want the hassle of organizing them, then the people to call for help are the Greater Vancouver Food Truck Festival folk.
In addition to Car Free Day street parties, events that the Greater Vancouver Food Truck Festival has helped run include Langley Community Day, the Vancouver Dragon Boat Festival, FVDED in the Park, Abbotsford Berry Fest, Salmon Summer Music Festival, and Canada Day events in municipalities like Abbotsford, Langley and Maple Ridge. The GVFTF team can work with and manage artisan vendors at events too, so not just the food vendors.
The Greater Vancouver Food Truck Festival is a terrific organization, and one that goes out of its way to support small, local businesses (which in this day and age is so important).
Non-Car Free Day Street Parties
The Main Street and Commercial Drive Car Free Day events are all “official” Car Free Day events. There are a number of other major events in Metro Vancouver that are similar. They aren’t, however, a part of the official “Car Free Day” family.
Other big public street festivals include the following:
- Vancouver Vaisakhi Parade and Surrey Vaisakhi Parade – East Indian cultural events that draw hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets in both South Vancouver and Surrey. They happen on subsequent Saturdays around the second and third weekends in April.
- Italian Day on the Drive – an Italian-themed street party with extended restaurant patios, live music, vendor stalls, food trucks and crowds of people on the street on Commercial Drive. It happens on a Sunday in early to mid-June.
- Greek Day on Broadway – a major street festival with a Greek theme that takes place in Kitsilano along Broadway Avenue in late June.
- Khatsahlano Street Party – another massive street party in Kitsilano. It takes place along West 4th Avenue in early July. Instead of having a cultural theme, the Khatsahlano Street Party is a music and arts festival that just happens to take place along the middle of a major road.
- TAIWANFest – an Asian-themed cultural festival that takes place along Granville Street in downtown Vancouver on the long weekend in September.
Other Information
See the Car Free Days website for more information about the Main Street Car Free Day event.
See our article about Car Free Days in the Lower Mainland to learn about other similar events.
Check out the Festivals & Events Calendar for a list of major events in the Lower Mainland throughout the year.
Check out our Vancouver’s September Calendar to see what else is happening in the same month.
