Cory Alstad Trio on Glow Harvest Stage

Langley‘s Harvest Glow was Vancouver’s newest and greatest autumn-themed attraction featuring pumpkins, illuminations and family-friendly activities.

The indoor event also had a fall market, food vendors, three licensed bars for adult folk, a mini golf course and multiple kids’ play areas, plus daily live entertainment.

NO HARVEST GLOW IN 2019

NOTE: Glow Harvest did NOT take place in 2019. 2018 was its first and final year. The organization behind the event however is hosting Christmas Glow Abbotsford and Christmas Glow Vancouver in 2019.

Information in this article includes the following:

Harvest Glow at Glow Gardens

Harvest Glow was the largest indoor autumn festival in the Lower Mainland. It took place inside a massive greenhouse, which was awesome because it was warm and dry even on rainy days (which there can be a lot of in October).

The attraction had a fall theme with a sprinkle of Halloween, which means there were pumpkins, a corn maze and other symbols of the harvest season, but no witches, goblins and other scary stuff (except maybe among the costumes they had for sale in their store, or the occasional child visitor already in costume).

The intentional “autumn and harvest focus” was another great feature of the event as it made it different from most other indoor Lower Mainland seasonal attractions that time of year, and especially fun for folk not into the spookiness and darker side of Halloween.

When is Harvest Glow?

Harvest Glow made its debut from September 27th until November 3rd in 2018. It was originally going to go until October 31st, but then got extended a few extra days. This was its first year, and unfortunately its last!

The attraction was open every Thursday, Friday and Saturday during its 2018 season, as well as most (but not all) Tuesdays and Wednesdays. It was also open on the last couple of Mondays in October, but closed on Sundays.

2018 days of operation were September 27-29 as well as October 4-6, 9-13, 16-20, 22-27 and 29-30. The three extra days added to the 2018 season are November 1-3.

Hours of operation, on days when it was open, were from 4:00 until 9:00 pm on weekdays and from 1:00 until 9:00 pm on Saturdays.

Glow Harvest

Where is Harvest Glow?

Harvest Glow took place in Langley at the Milner Village Garden Centre, which is the same place as the fabulously successful Christmas Glow attraction which takes place in the Lower Mainland.

The Milner Village Garden Centre is located at 6690 216th Street which is just a 5-minute drive from the Trans-Canada Highway via the 232nd Street exit, or 10 minutes from the 200th Street exit. The venue is also about a 45-minute drive from downtown Vancouver, or 25 minutes from the Surrey side of the Port Mann Bridge.

Both Harvest Glow and Christmas Glow took place in 2018 in a giant 95,000 square-foot greenhouse facility, which made it comfortable and dry regardless of the weather.

Admission & Prices

General admission to Harvest Glow when purchased online cost around $12 for adults, and $9 for both seniors and children (ages 4 and older). Taxes and online fees were extra and tickets purchased at the gate cost around $2 more.

Kids ages 3 and under were free, as was the on-site parking. Family passes were also available for up to 2 adults and 3 children or seniors. The cost for a family of five was $39.95 online or approximately $8 extra at the gate.

Only credit cards and cash payments were accepted at the gate, so debit cards didn’t work. Also, there were times and dates when the place sold out, which made purchasing your tickets in advance online a good idea.

How Admission Works

When purchasing your tickets online you had to select your date and time of arrival (within a 1-hour time slot). This was a good system as it controlled the number of people arriving at any given time. It meant the crowds weren’t too crazy inside, and the lineups outside was short and manageable.

When purchasing your ticket online you had a choice of time slots. On weekdays you could choose 4:00 to 5:00 pm, 5:00 to 6:00 pm, 6:00 to 7:00 pm, 7:00 to 8:00 pm or 8:00 to 9:00 pm. On Saturdays the times ran hourly starting at 1:00 pm.

Guests were asked to arrive within their designated time slots to ensure the attraction didn’t get uncomfortably crowded inside and people didn’t have to wait in long lineups to get in.

If you arrived outside your designated ticket time you could still get in, but you might have had to wait for a bit as guests arriving within their correct time slots were given priority.

Once inside the venue, visitors were welcome to stay as long as they liked (i.e., they weren’t restricted to just one hour), which was great!

Glow Harvest LED Swings — LED Swings at Harvest Glow

What to Expect

At Harvest Glow you could expect to see festive fall harvest decorations, games and activities for children, piles of pumpkins, pretty lights, swings to swing on, and interesting items for sale in the artisan market.

Harvest Glow was a great attraction for the young – and the young at heart. There were lots of kid-friendly features that were sure to entertain for hours, while the adults could also kick back and relax. When you went inside, near the entrance, you’ll found picnic tables, the stage where performances took place, a miniature train station, a pumpkin tree display and the main bar.

In the next area you found a mini golf course, LED swings suspended from the ceiling, and a pirate ship play park and magic castle play park for kids to explore. You might have even made a new fuzzy friend at the petting stable.

In another area of the venue there was a pumpkin patch where you could choose and then buy your favourite pumpkin for $5. There was even a carving station with tools you could use to create your Jack-o-lantern right on site.

Also indoors at Harvest Glow there was a corn maze, artisan market, glowing hopscotch pads and an area that was perfect for selfies and family photos with pretty hanging light sculptures.

Harvest Glow's Glow Hopscotch — Glow Hopscotch at Glow Harvest

The Glow Shop at the market sold cool glowing toys, souvenirs, candy and costumes (just in time for Halloween). The market featured around two dozen local artisans selling a variety of unique and handmade gifts (so perfect for early Christmas gift-shopping ideas). And the three licensed bars at the venue sold a selection of seasonal refreshments including craft beers, local wines and spiced apple cider.

When you looked around the venue at Harvest Glow it was hard to believe that during most of the year the facility is a fully-operational greenhouse full of plants! Pretty cool (and a great use of the place in the slower non-growing season)!

Harvest Glow Video

To give you an idea of what Harvest Glow and its various activities looked like, below is a short video featuring one of the kids’ play structures and the glowing Hopscotch Pads. As you can see, kids had a blast!