Giant Cranberry at Fort Langley Festival

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 typically 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.

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

(Note: On the day of the event, admission to the fort is usually free, which makes it an especially good day to go! Exact admission details for 2025, however, are to be confirmed.)

This article contains the following information:

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 from 10:00 am until 5:00 pm. Festivities typically occur along the street near the Fort Langley Community Hall which is located at 9160 Glover Road. There are also activities at the Fort Langley National Historic Site where admission is free for the day.

In years with good weather, the event attracts tens of thousands of people. It’s a great event!

HALLOWEEN IN LANGLEY

Another great event 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 takes place at 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 around 100 or so food 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, usually at 8:00 am. 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. Admission to the fort during the Cranberry Festival is also 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 was the schedule of events at the Fort Langley National Historic Site for the 2024 Cranberry Festival. In addition to these timed events, there was also the cranberry stomp, scavenger hunts, a photo station and cornhole available throughout the day. This schedule will likely be similar in 2025, although exact details are to be confirmed.

10:30 am – Fort 101
11:00 am – Blacksmith Demonstration
11:30 am – Cooperage Talk: How the Fort Helped Prevent Scurvy
12:00 pm – Fort Game Show: Cranberries Edition
12:30 pm – Curator’s Corner: Cranberry Edition
1:30 pm – Cooperage Talk: How the Fort Helped Prevent Scurvy
2:00 pm – Blacksmith Demonstration
2:30 pm – Fort Game Show: Cranberries Edition
3:30 pm – Curator’s Corner: Cranberry Edition

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.

The main focus of the festival is the market which features over 200 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.

In past years dogs have been 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 and around the Community Hall.

Fort Langley Cranberry Festival Crowds — Festival Crowds on Glover Road

Free Shuttle Service

With up to as many as 35,000 people attending the small town’s event, finding parking can be a challenge. In years past the festival typically offered a free shuttle service. It ran regularly from both Trinity Western University and Walnut Grove Secondary School.

Parking at the school is usually free, but at the university you have to pay. In some years (but not all) the fee is waived at Trinity Western during the festival.

We don’t think a shuttle service was offered in 2024 and that may be the case again this year, or maybe not. Details are to be confirmed. There is parking available at the Fort Langley National Historic Site (although not enough for 50,000 people).

Fort Langley Cranberry Shuttle Bus — Cranberry Shuttle Bus in Fort Langley

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: If the shuttle service is available, don’t wait until the very end to get in the lineup for your return trip back to your car. Lots of people use the service in years when it’s offered!

TIP #2: 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 #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: A great way to explore Fort Langley and learn about the history of the village is with a guided walking tour with Fort Langley Tours.

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

Check out the Cranberry Festival website to learn more about 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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