The second biggest shopping mall in Richmond after Richmond Centre, Lansdowne Centre is an older mall with the largest parking lot in all of Vancouver.
SPRING BREAK CARNIVAL
West Coast Amusements is setting up its rides and midway in the parking lot at Lansdowne Centre from March 21st to 31st this spring.
The rides are in operation from noon until 10 pm most days. The carnival is open from noon until 11 pm on Saturdays and the first Friday though (i.e., March 22nd), and until just 7 pm on the final Sunday. (Note: operating hours are approximate and depend on the weather and attendance numbers.)
Rides take between 3 and 7 tickets which cost $1.25 each when purchased separately. Books of twenty tickets are also available for $23, or forty for $45. All-day wristbands cost $40. You can also get a 6-rides-for-$19 coupon at the mall’s guest services centre.
For more information see the West Coast Amusements website.
CIRCUS AT LANSDOWNE IN MAY 2019
The Royal Canadian Family Circus has shows at Lansdowne Mall on May 9th-12th and 17th-20th in 2019. Tickets cost between $25 and $50. Use promo code VansBestPlaces though and get 2-for-1 general admission seats (so just $12.50 plus taxes and fees per person). Fun for the whole family and at an affordable price!
Lansdowne Centre Mall
Lansdowne Centre is a pretty typical large-scale 1970s mall. It has big box anchor stores at each corner and a hundred plus stores in between.
Built in the late 1970s, the mall has over 130 stores including a Winners, Toys R Us, Home Outfitters, Best Buy and a T&T (Asian-style) Supermarket.
What makes the mall of special interest is the fact that it hosts a number of special events each year.
This article includes information about the following topics:
Events at the Mall | Chinese New Year | Spring Carnival | Starlight Theatre Movies | Mall Location & Hours | Other Information
Click on any of the above links to jump to a specific topic, or continue reading to learn all about the shopping centre and its various seasonal events.
Events at the Mall
Most years, in either January or February, Lansdowne Centre offers Chinese New Year entertainment on a weekend. 2019 celebrated the Year of the Pig.
A few months later, over the school Spring Break holidays each year, the mall’s giant parking lot is often taken over by WCA Amusements’ rides and a carnival midway (although 2019 details are to be confirmed). And in the summer, the parking lot becomes home to free weekly outdoor movies.
See below for details about each of these seasonal special events.
Chinese New Year at Lansdowne Centre
Lansdowne Centre celebrates the Lunar New Year in January or February with a traditional Lion Dance and afternoon of live entertainment.
In 2019 Chinese New Year’s Day was Tuesday, February 5th and the mall’s New Year’s Celebrations took place on the following Saturday.
On the Saturday of February 9th, 2019, entertainment ran from around noon until 5:00 pm and featured performances by various local performing arts groups.
The event is hosted by the Richmond Chinese Community Society. Activities include visits from the Money God, lion dancing, Chinese opera performances, Taiko Japanese drumming, taekwondo demonstrations and artists making art. In 2019 there were also performances by Chinese, Indian, Irish and Polish folk dancing groups.
Click Chinese New Year for information about all the many Lunar New Year celebrations that take place in Metro Vancouver most years, including at Lansdowne Centre.
Spring Carnival at the Mall
Most years during Spring Break in March WCA Amusements often sets up its rides and carnival midway in the parking lot of Lansdowne Centre. In 2019 it runs from March 21st until the 31st.
The Spring Carnival is a medium-sized fair with the typical assortment of rides, vendors selling candy floss and midway games. There is usually a Ferris wheel, Tilt-a-Whirl, kiddy rides and the usual selection of rides that go up and down and round and round. Kids and youth love it!
Hours of operation for the rides in 2019 are the following (weather permitting):
- Fridays and Saturdays (March 15, 16, & 23): noon until 11 pm (but noon until 10 pm on March 22)
- Monday to Thursday (March 18-21): noon until 10 pm
- Sundays: noon until 10 pm on March 17 and from noon until 7 pm on March 24
Ticket prices in 2019 are the following (which were the same as last year):
- Single Tickets: $1.25 each
- Book of 20: $23 (so $1.15 each)
- Book of 40: $45 (so $1.125 each)
Individual rides last year cost between 3 and 7 coupons each (so between $3.38 and $8.75 per ride). All-day wristbands are also available for $40, which make them the best value-for-money for people wanting to stay and ride all day.
TIP #1: Lineups for rides are usually smallest at the beginning of the day and, obviously, on rainy days.
TIP #2: During Spring Break most years PlayDome also features amusement rides indoors at BC Place Stadium. PlayDome doesn’t take place in 2019, however, but hopefully it’ll return again in the spring of 2020.
Click Spring Break to learn about March activities for kids elsewhere.
Starlight Theatre Drive-in Movies
Numerous outdoor movies take place in the Lower Mainland during the summer each year. Most are free and they take place everywhere from parks to shopping malls to convention centres and municipal plazas.
Each summer Lansdowne Centre hosts a weekly evening outdoor movie in its parking lot. It’s one of the region’s free drive-in-style movie venues where people are welcome to watch from their cars or bring their lawn chairs.
Starlight Theatre Drive-in Movies at Lansdowne Centre usually takes place on Wednesday evenings and features free drive-in parking for up to 200 vehicles on a first-come, first-served basis. There is always lots of space for people to set up and watch from their lawn chairs too.
Similar to free outdoor movies at other venues, films featured at Starlight Theatre Drive-in Movie nights are usually popular films that are no longer showing in major theatres.
2018 Starlight Theatre Movies
Here’s what’s showed for free at dusk on Wednesday evenings in 2018:
- July 4th – The Greatest Showman
- July 11th – How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
- July 18th – The Lego Ninjago Movie
- July 25th – Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
- August 1st – The Notebook
- August 8th – Raiders of the Lost Ark
- August 15th – Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
- August 22nd – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2
- August 29th – Black Panther
Some weeks the Starlight Theatre Drive-in Movie feature presentation is perfect for kids and their families, and other days it’s more for adults and people who like action films (in some cases) or romance flicks (in other cases). Over the course of the summer there is always something for everyone!
For more information about Starlight Theatre movies check out Lansdowne Centre‘s website. For a list of dozens of free summer films at other locations, click Vancouver Outdoor Movies.
Mall Location and Hours
Located at 5300 No.3 Road, close to the Lansdowne SkyTrain Station, Lansdowne Centre is bordered by Alderbridge Road to the north and Lansdowne Road to the south.
The mall’s regular weekday hours are Mondays and Tuesdays from 10 am to 6 pm and Wednesdays to Fridays from 10 am to 9 pm.
On most Saturdays throughout the year the mall is open from 9:30 am to 6 pm and on Sundays and holidays from 11 am to 6 pm.
Other Information
For more information about the mall, click Lansdowne Centre.
Other shopping malls in Richmond include Richmond Centre (which is the city’s largest) and Aberdeen Centre (which has arguably the most distinctive Chinese character).
Other shopping places of interest in the summer include the Richmond Night Market.
Other topics of interest you might want to check out include the following:
- Best Places for Shopping
- The City of Richmond
- Metro Vancouver’s Top 100 Places
- Festivals & Events Calendar
- Chinese New Year Activities
- Summer Outdoor Movies
- Vancouver at Spring Break
- Vancouver on a Budget
- Vancouver for Children
