Burnaby Village Museum

Located at 6501 Deer Lake Avenue, Burnaby Village Museum is a popular outdoor historical attraction in Burnaby that’s open seasonally and usually free.

The museum is open for its summer season between May 6th and September 4th in 2023.

This article includes information about the following topics and seasonal events:

Click any of the above links to jump to a specific topic, or continue reading to learn all about Burnaby Village.

History at Burnaby Village

Burnaby Village operates seasonally at various times between Spring Break (March) and December. During the summer season, it’s typically open between early May and the beginning of September.

What to Expect at the Museum

The quality of the museum’s historic buildings and the fact that it’s free makes Burnaby Village one of the best deals in town. For most museums/attractions like it, you might expect to pay $10 (which would still be a comparatively good deal) or even as much as $20 (which would be high). Being free makes Burnaby Village especially attractive.

So what’s there to see at Burnaby Village? It’s set up like an open-air museum with a blacksmith shop, old-fashioned ice cream parlour, general store and school. There is also an antique Vancouver streetcar train you can go inside and a couple of historic old homes.

Gate admission to the site is free, except for special events like their Spring Break Scavenger Hunt in March and Haunted Village in late October. There is also a small charge for their carousel rides.

Hours and Dates of Operation

Burnaby Village is only open seasonally. It isn’t open year-round.

In summer the museum is usually open from 11:00 am to 4:30 pm on Tuesdays to Sundays as well as on holiday Mondays. It’s also open seasonally including over the School Spring Break, the last few days of October and during most of December.

Admission is free during the summer and carousel rides cost usually cost less than $3.00.

2023 Hours and Dates of Operation

Burnaby Village is open for school Spring Break from March 13th to 24th, 2023, between 11:00 am and 4:30 pm. Admission is free.

The museum is open again for the summer between May 6th and September 4th, 2023. It’s open during that period between 11:00 am and 4:30 pm Tuesdays to Sundays as well as on holidays like Victoria Day, Canada Day, BC Day and Labour Day.

The Haunted Village (also called Eerie Illusions) took place from October 20th to 30th in 2022. Admission to the Halloween attraction cost adults around $10 and $5 for children. 2023 dates and prices for the Halloween attraction will likely be similar.

Heritage Christmas is also set to run from November 25th, 2023, until January 1st, 2024. The event didn’t take place during the 2020/21 season but it did in 2022!

Burnaby Village at Spring Break

Burnaby Village often opens during Spring Break. In years when there isn’t a pandemic, the museum offers unlimited carousel rides, a scavenger hunt, entertainment and other activities over the school holidays.

In 2023, the museum is open daily from Monday, March 13th, until Friday, March 24th. Hours of operation are 11:00 am until 4:30 pm each day.

Unlike in previous years, admission to the museum during Spring Break in 2023 is free. The year before it was about $7. There’s lots to learn at the museum, including topics such as the importance of Chinese medicine, popular products in the 1920s, early schooling in Burnaby, the blacksmith profession, and more. Carousel rides are usually available at a cost of $2.65 per person.

Advanced registration isn’t typically required. As of the last time we checked, face masks were still encouraged but not required for indoor locations.

Burnaby Village on Victoria Day

National holidays are often celebrated at the Burnaby Village Museum with extra activities and entertainment. Victoria Day is no exception.

Victoria Day festivities take place on the Monday of the May Long Weekend and usually run from around 11:00 am until 4:30 pm.

To give an idea of Victoria Day events at Burnaby Village, below was the schedule from a past year.

11:30 am – Tiddley Cove Morris Dancers on Hill Street
12:30 pm – Tiddley Cove Morris Dancers at the Vorce Tram Station Plaza
1:15 pm – Tiddley Cove Morris Dancers on Hill Street
1:45 pm – Queen Victoria Procession throughout the Village
2:00 pm – Victoria Day Ceremony at the Vorce Tram Station Plaza
2:00 to 4:00 pm – British Columbia Regiment Band in the Bandstand Area
2:20 to 3:45 pm – Queen’s Levee at the Church
2:20 to 3:30 pm – Birthday Cupcakes served behind the Seaforth School
2:45 to 3:30 pm – Joe McDonald Bag Piper in the Orientation Plaza

In addition to the above, from 11:00 am until 4:00 pm there were craft activities at the Real Estate Office and Tea Time photo opportunities at the Bandstand.

Click Victoria Day for a list of other events on the May Long Weekend in the Vancouver region.

Burnaby Village on Canada Day

Burnaby Village is one of three main venues where the City of Burnaby celebrates Canada Day. The others are the Edmonds Community Centre and Swangard Stadium. Click Canada Day in Burnaby for details about what happens at each location.

The performance and activity schedule for July 1st in a past year was the following:

11:00 am – Coastal Wolf Pack
11:15 am – Rene Hugo Sanchez & Friends
11:45 am – Académie Duello
1:00 pm – Tian-Jin Temple
1:00 pm – Académie Duello
1:45 pm – Piper Jim Leonard
2:15 pm – Rene Hugo Sanchez & Friends
2:30 pm – Académie Duello
2:45 pm – Ginalina
12:45 pm – Khac Chi Bamboo Music and the Squares Barbershop Quartet
2:20 pm – Canada Day mini cupcakes
3:45 pm – Rene Hugo Sanchez & Friends

Band Stand at Burnaby Village — Canada Day at Burnaby Village

Burnaby Village on BC Day

On the Holiday Monday of the BC Day Long Weekend Burnaby Village Museum hosts a day of free family-friendly activities.

The activity schedule for the holiday included the following events that happened simultaneously from 11:00 am to 4:30 pm (except for Gardener in Residents, which took place from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm).

Learn More or Listen Up – learn about activities at the museum or enjoy performances from musicians.
Agents of Change – an exhibit that features cut-outs of a half-dozen folks who advocated for social justice in Burnaby.
Gardener-in-Residence – a gardener is on-site in the orchard to answer garden-related questions.
Across the Pacific – stories about Burnaby’s Chinese-Canadian community at the Stride Studios.
Scavenger Hunt – search for vibrant advertisements that originated from a century ago.

Burnaby Village on Labour Day

On the Holiday Monday of the September Long Weekend Burnaby Village Museum celebrates its final day of the summer season by hosting a day of free activities and entertainment.

Extra things happening on Labour Day typically include all the events listed in the BC Day section. However, they also have a few musicians and entertainers put on shows that last between 25 and 45 minutes. Burnaby Village Museum hosted a few more full-day (11:00 am to 4:30 pm) events as well in a recent year, including the following:

Working People Documentary – a film about people and labour from the past runs in the Central Park Theatre.
A Century of Service – learn more about the Burnaby Civic Employees Union over the past decade.

Canada Day Entertainment

The museum was open on Canada Day in 2021 but unfortunately didn’t host any events due to the pandemic. In normal years, expect to see live performances that are similar to the ones listed below that took place on the Holiday Monday in a recent year.

11:00 am – Matt Henry’s Juggling Show (in the Meadow)
11:30 am – Music by Celtic Lasses (on the Vorce Stage)
12:15 pm – Matt Henry’s Juggling Show (in the Meadow)
12:45 pm – Music with Jack Ray (on the Vorce Stage)
1:30 pm – Matt Henry’s Juggling Show (in the Meadow)
2:00 pm – Music by Celtic Lasses (on the Vorce Stage)
3:00 pm – Music with Jack Ray (on the Vorce Stage)
3:30 pm – Matt Henry’s Juggling Show (in the Meadow)

See the Burnaby Village Museum website for more details.

Burnaby Haunted Village Street — Burnaby Village at Halloween

Burnaby Village at Halloween

The Burnaby Village Museum celebrates the Halloween season with its Eerie Illusions event in October. 2023 dates and details are to be confirmed.

The Haunted Village is a family-friendly event with trick-or-treating, live entertainment and carousel rides. In 2021 the Eerie Illusions event was an all-new experience, and it happened again in 2022. During the event the place is decorated with projections, sounds and special effects. In the past, food trucks have been on-site every day.

The price of admission in 2022 was $10 for adults, seniors and youth, and $5 for children 2 to 12 years of age. This was the same as the year before. Pricing for 2023’s Halloween event is to be confirmed.

Click Haunted Village for more details.

Burnaby Village at Christmas

Burnaby Village is also open for its Heritage Christmas special event over the December holiday season, at which time general admission again becomes free – making it one of the best-value Christmas deals in Metro Vancouver.

In 2020, Heritage Christmas was cancelled due to COVID-19. Fortunately, the event returned in 2021 and 2022. Last year it ran from late November 2022 until early January 2023. The 2023/2024 season dates are to be confirmed.

Click Heritage Christmas for more details.

Snowy Burnaby Village Christmas Scene — Heritage Christmas at Burnaby Village

Burnaby Village on Other Special Occasions

In addition to the summer and at Halloween and Christmas, Burnaby Village is also open on a few other occasions at various times over the course of the year.

For example, the place opens up its carousel rides (but not other parts of the museum) during the Family Day stat holiday in February.

Tips and Suggestions

Below are some things to know to help you make the most of your visit to the Burnaby Village Museum.

TIP #1: Parking is limited, but there is parking up the street if you can’t find any in the main parking lot.

TIP #2: The Burnaby Village Museum is located at the edge of beautiful Deer Lake Park. This makes the park a great destination to combine with the museum and a back-up place to find parking.

TIP #3: The site is wheelchair accessible for the most part – not all the buildings are, but enough to make it worth the visit.

Burnaby Village Main Street