Metro Vancouver’s Fort Langley Cranberry Festival is a free event with a market and family-friendly activities on the Thanksgiving Weekend in Fort Langley.

The 30th annual edition of the festival happens on Saturday, October 11th, 2025. The event features a pancake breakfast, live entertainment, market vendors and food trucks. Some of the festivities happen at the Fort Langley National Historic Site while others happen in the town.

In 2025, October 11th also marks the first day of the Scarecrow Showcase at the historic site. From that day until the end of the month, there is a wide variety of scarecrows to find and enjoy at the fort. There is also a scavenger hunt and people can vote for their favourite straw-stuffed characters.

Continue reading to learn more about the event in the town of Fort Langley. See the Parks Canada website to see what happens at the historic fort.

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Click any of the above links for details about a specific topic, or continue reading to learn all about the Fort Langley Cranberry Festival. (Note: Details are subject to change.)

Cranberry Festival in Historic Fort Langley

The family-friendly Fort Langley Cranberry Festival takes place on the Saturday of the Thanksgiving Long Weekend each year. That’s October 11th in 2025.

The event runs rain or shine officially from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm. That being said, the pancake breakfast, farmers market and boat racing begin at 8:00, 9:00 and 9:30 am respectively. Activities at Fort Langley National Historic Site also run until about 4:30. It’s the activities on Glover Road in front of the Fort Langley Community Hall that run from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm.

Festivities occur along the street in front of the Fort Langley Community Hall which is located at 9160 Glover Road. A number of special activities happen at Fort Langley National Historic Site. There is also a pancake breakfast with the Lions Club, an art show and sale downstairs at Fort Langley Community Hall, and boat races in the river. There is also the Fort Langley Village Farmers Market in the parking lot outside St. Andrews Historic Church on Glover Road.

In years with good weather, the event attracts tens of thousands of people. A couple of years ago there were 35,000! This year over 120 vendors and a couple of dozen food trucks are expected. There is also a kids zone, beer garden and thousands of pounds of cranberries for sale. It’s a great event!

HALLOWEEN IN LANGLEY

Another great activity in Fort Langley this time of year are the Grave Tales walking tours which are highly recommended! They are hosted by Fort Langley National Historic Site and are so popular they often sell out! The walking tours typically run from early to late October. They explore the Village of Fort Langley and take place in the evenings.

Click Grave Tales Walking Tours for details and to book your spot.

Cranberry Festival Location

The Cranberry Festival takes place in Fort Langley which is a beautiful historic town located in the Fraser Valley. It’s about a 45-minute drive from downtown Vancouver.

Much of the event usually takes place near the Fort Langley Community Hall (at 9167 Glover Road), and along the main street in front of the building for a couple of blocks in either direction. Activities also happen at the Fort at 23433 Mavis Avenue.

Cranberry Festival Cranberries — Cranberries for Sale

Cranberry Festival Activities

The Fort Langley Cranberry Festival usually features over 100 market vendors and over a dozen food trucks. There is always a variety of family-friendly activities available. The event also has live music and beer. The festival features a pancake breakfast in the morning. There are often cooking demonstrations and all kinds of cranberry-themed things to do and look at.

There are special activities and people in period costumes at the Fort Langley National Historic Site, similar to a normal busy weekend in the summer, but with a bit of a cranberry twist. Regular admission to the fort during the Cranberry Festival applies this year, but, as always, children and youth under the age of 18 are free.

Since the historic site is an interesting place to visit any day of the year, many festival attendees also spend time at the fort. In addition to regular blacksmith and barrel-making demonstrations, one special fort activity for the festival is a cranberry stomp.

Fort Langley’s regular weekly Farmers Market also takes place at the same time as the festival in its regular location at 9025 Glover Road. The venue is just a block or so from the rest of the village’s main festival activities. The market is always a popular one, and especially so during the Cranberry Festival.

Events at the Fort

Below is what is happening at the Fort Langley National Historic Site for the 2025 Cranberry Festival.

Cranberry Stomping – a traditional harvest activity front of the Cooperage.
Scarecrow Scavenger Hunt – where you can search for the scarecrows and vote for your favourite.
Blacksmith Demonstrations – 9th-century metalwork demonstrations take place at the blacksmith shop.
Game: Cranberry Edition – a berry fun challenging fame for the whole family!

See the Fort Langley National Historic Site for full details about the above and other events.

Other Cranberry Festival Activities

In addition to the above, there is the pancake breakfast, art show and canoe races.

The Fort Langley Lions Club hosts its annual Fort Langley Cranberry Festival pancake breakfast between 8:00 and 11:00 am. In 2025 the cost is $10 and it includes two pancakes, three sausages, a Cranberry Bratwurst sausage, and either coffee or tea.

The Fort Langley Artist Group has its Fall Show & Sale on the ground floor of Fort Langley Community Hall. Between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm there is art to enjoy and artists to chat with. Participating artists in 2025 are Alison Philpott, Toni King, Robin Bandenieks, Marion McCristall, Brigitte Seib, Judy Vanderveen, and â€‹Ursula Bolivar.

In 2025, the same as in other years, there are also canoe races in Fort Langley on October 11th between 9:30 am and around 3:00 or 3:30 pm. The 1 km course is on Bedford Channel, which is at the waterfront at the edge of the village.

Glover Road at Cranberry Festival — Festival stalls on Glover Road

About the Festival

The Fort Langley Cranberry Festival started in 1996. It has grown into an event of significant size.

One of the main focuses of the festival is the market which features over 100 vendors selling everything from fresh cranberries to cranberry baked goods, wines and art. There is a large yet fairly typical artisan and farmers market, but with a cranberry theme and tons of people.

Below is some other general information about the event that’s good to know.

Dogs are usually welcome at the festival in most areas, except not indoors at the Community Hall or in the fort. Glover Road does get packed with thousands of people, so not all canine participants will enjoy the experience.
Be prepared for crowds! It can get insanely busy at the market as well as on the surrounding roads.
If you want to stock up on cranberries, be sure to buy them earlier in the day before they sell out. Just remember that unless you somehow manage to park your car close by, you’ll have to walk around with your purchases for the rest of your visit.
Live music and other activities take place in front of the Community Hall.

Fort Langley Cranberry Festival Crowds — Festival Crowds on Glover Road

Tips & Advice

Below are some suggestions and extra information to help you make the most of your visit to the festival in future years.

TIP #1: Unless you arrive really early, don’t expect to find parking anywhere remotely close to the centre of town. As the day progresses cars start to park along the roads as far as a couple of kilometres away.

TIP #2: Even though the festival doesn’t officially start until 10:00 am, lots of things begin earlier than that, including the pancake breakfast, farmers market and boat races. The main street and waterfront areas area wonderful to walk along. Consequently, it makes a lot of sense to go early!

TIP #3: If you have bicycles and a bike rack, take them with you to Fort Langley. You can then park a ways away and cycle to the event, which will mean less of a walk and less time in the traffic mayhem!

TIP #4: Be sure to visit the Fort Langley National Historic Site while your there. It’s a most interesting attraction and highly recommended.

About Fort Langley and Cranberries

The Fort Langley Cranberry Festival is one of the largest events of the year for the community of Fort Langley. Other major events include Fort Langley May Days with its parade in May and the Fort Langley Jazz & Arts Festival in the summer, among others.

Fort Langley itself is a beautiful historic town with a National Heritage site fort, a couple of museums, antique shops and colonial-style buildings. Both the fort and the town are well worth visiting.

Fort Langley is located at the edge of what’s known as the Fraser Valley part of the Lower Mainland. It’s a predominantly agricultural area with all kinds of farm land. Cranberries are the largest crop for the region, which explains why the October festival is all about cranberries. Between the Fraser Valley and Richmond, the Lower Mainland is one of the largest producers of cranberries anywhere in the world!

GRAVE TALES AT HALLOWEEN

Another fun thing to do in autumn in the region is to go on one of the Grave Tales walking tours. They take place late at night during the Halloween season and Fort Langley National Historic Site hosts them. The tours are excellent and highly recommended! Visit the Parks Canada website to book your spot and learn more about the activity.

Grave Tales Tour in the Cemetery — Grave Tales in Fort Langley

Other Information

Visit the Parks Canada website to see what happens at the historic fort during the Fort Langley Cranberry Festival.

Click Fort Langley or the Fraser Valley for more details about the town and the region. Click Fort Langley Fort for more information about the National Historic Site.

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