Fort Langley Jazz Festival

The Fort Langley Jazz and Arts Festival in July is one of Metro Vancouver’s best music festivals. Some of its events are free and others are ticketed.

This is one of our favourite festivals of the year and highly recommended. In 2025 the festival runs from July 24th to 27th with the amazing Cool Blues Show happening on the 25th. On May 30th there’s also the Cuban Jazz Dance Party which is a pre-festival fundraising event featuring the Julio Avila Band.

Click the links below to jump to information about specific topics, visit fortlangleyjazzfest.com for the festival’s official website, or continue reading to learn all about the festival.

This article contains the following information about the festival:

The Fort Langley Jazz Festival in 2025

In 2025 the Fort Langley Jazz Festival runs from Thursday, July 24th, until Sunday, July 27th. At the festival there are both indoor and outdoor venues with free and ticketed shows. As many as 20,000 people usually attend over the course of the four days.

Click Fort Langley Jazz for the festival’s official website.

Where and When

The Fort Langley Jazz & Arts Festival takes place in the heart of Fort Langley. The main venue is usually the Community Hall which is located at 9167 Glover Road.

The community of Fort Langley itself is located on the Fraser River in the northern part of the Township of Langley on the opposite side of the river from Maple Ridge.

The first event of 2025 is the Cuban Jazz Dance Party Fundraiser at the Community Hall. It happens on May 30th, so a couple of months before the actual festival. It’s an early fundraiser that helps support the rest of the festival in the summer.

The Fort Langley Jazz & Arts Festival in 2025 runs from July 24th to 27th. On the second day (July 25th), there is the Cool Blues Show at Fort Langley Community Park. It’s a ticketed event with live music, food trucks, a beer garden and more.

The festival has free live music outdoors throughout the Saturday and Sunday. There are two stages in front of the Community Hall, in addition to vendors and other activities nearby.

Free & Ticketed Festival Events

Below is the schedule for this year’s festival. Some events are free and others are ticketed.

For the most up to date details and to buy tickets, go to the Fort Langley Jazz website.

Pre-Festival Events

Prior to the actual festival on the last weekend in July, there are a few events earlier in the spring and summer to help people get warmed up and ready for the main events. There’s a Cuban Jazz Dance Party event in May as well as the Youth Concert Series Showcase on a couple of Sundays in July. See below for details about each of these.

Cuban Jazz Dance Party

In 2025 the Cuban Jazz Dance Party event happens at the Fort Langley Community Hall on Friday, May 30th. The event runs from 7:00 pm to 11:00 pm and features a silent auction, salsa dance lessons, and live music by Julio Avila Cuban Band. All proceeds from the auction help support the festival. Admission to the event costs about $40 per person.

For more information, visit the Fort Langley Jazz Festival website.

Youth Concert Series Showcase

In 2025 there is the Youth Concert Series Showcase that leads up to the festival. It runs on the Sundays of July 13th and 20th outside the Fort Langley CNR Station. On the weekend of the festival there are more performances featuring youth bands too.

To learn more, click Youth Concert Series Showcase.

A Tribute to Aretha Franklin

On Saturday, July 26th in 2025, there’s a ticketed concert at the Fort Langley Community Hall. It takes place in the venue’s ballroom from 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm. The show is a tribute to the legendary Aretha Franklin.

Music is performed by the Siobhan Walsh Group and tickets cost $50 per person. There’s limited seating at the venue and concert-goers are advised to purchase tickets early.

To learn more about the event, see the Fort Langley Jazz Festival website.

Cool Blues Show

There are also ticketed concerts in 2025 at the Fort Langley Community Park, located at 9089 Nash Street. It’s just a block or two from the Fort Langley Cemetery and St. Andrew’s Church.

In 2025 the Cool Blues Show happens on one day. At the park are multiple concerts with Blues & Roots music. There are also food trucks, a beer garden and an artisan market. Headlining acts in 2025 include Steve Marriner & Local Electric, Bywater Call and Angelique Francis.

Early bird admission to the Cool Blues Show start at $55 for adults (ages 19+) and $33 for youth. Regular admission closer to the event date is about $75 for adults. Kids ages 11 and under enter for free when attending with a paying adult.

For more details, see the official Cool Blues Show page.

Big Band Concert & Swing Dance

One more ticketed event this year is a pair of big-band jazz concerts with the Vancouver Legacy Jazz Orchestra. The performances take place from 1:00 to 3:00 pm and from 8:00 to 11:00 pm on Thursday, July 24th, 2025. It’s held in the ballroom of the Fort Langley Community Hall. Tickets cost about $25 for the afternoon session and $35 in the evening.

From 7:00 to 8:00 pm (before the evening concert) there’s a swing dance lesson at the ballroom that costs an extra $10 to participate in. Special guest Tom Arntzen also performs with the orchestra in the second performance.

To learn more about the event, visit the Fort Langley Jazz Festival website.

Festival Art Zone

On the weekend of July 26th and 27th, 2025, there’s also an Art & Culture Zone. It’s a combination of the Kidz Zone and the Art Zone from past festivals into a single area. It features face painting, various art workshops for those of all ages, Indigenous cultural demonstrations and more. The weekend also offers an Art Market along Mary Street, with beautiful art to see and buy.

Last year, while the workshops were free, advance registration was required. As of the beginning of May, exact details on the specific workshops in 2025 and whether registration is needed are to be confirmed.

To give an idea of what you can expect in 2025, the first workshop last year was the Summer Florals Watercolour Workshop with Julie Yep. It ran on the Saturday from noon until 1:00 pm. Then, from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm, the same artist hosted a Polaroid Landscapes in Watercolour workshop.

On both the Saturday and Sunday at 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm, there were one-hour Mehndi (Henna Art) workshops with Baljeet Kaur. After practicing on paper, participants got the opportunity to apply their designs onto their own hands. Sichen Grace Chen also hosted Metallic Object (Acrylic) workshops on the Sunday from noon to 1:00 pm and from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm. Participants got to learn how to paint metallic objects.

Another art-related activity at the festival was the Opus Outdoor Painting Challenge. It was a chance for artists to paint a new piece and have their work put on display. Festival attendees then voted for their favourite pieces. Prizes were available for the winners.

Click Fort Langley Jazz for the festival’s official website.

2025 Free Concerts on the Weekend

There are free outdoor performances in front of the Fort Langley Community Hall on the Saturday and Sunday of July 26th and 27th.

There are three stages at the 2025 event. The Conwest Main Stage features the headlining acts of the free festival. In between those performances there are also local and Indigenous artists performing on the Art & Culture Stage, and up-and-coming artists on the Youth Stage.

As of the beginning of May, the lineup for the Art & Culture Stage has not yet been announced. The schedules for the other two stages are listed below.

Conwest Main Stage Schedule

Saturday, July 26th, 2025

11:00 am – Andrea Superstein
12:15 pm – Material Culture Project
1:15 pm – Monica Siu
2:15 pm – John Nicholson Quintet
3:15 pm – Last Ark Out

Sunday, July 27th, 2025

10:00 am – Melón Jimenez & Lara Wong
11:00 am – Blues Kazam
12:00 pm – John Bentley Quartet
1:00 pm – Eva van Gunsteren Quintet
2:00 pm – Raagaverse
3:00 pm – Feelin’ Alright: A Tribute to Joe Cocker

Noxious Obs Society Band at Fort Langley Station — Noxious Obs Society at the CNR Station

Youth Stage Schedule

Saturday, July 26th, 2025

12:30 pm – Sadie Koshan (the Post-Secondary Rising Jazz Star Winner)
1:45 pm – Banter Quartet
3:15 pm – 538st

Sunday, July 28th, 2024

12:30 pm – Jose Guilles (the Secondary School Rising Jazz Star Winner)
1:45 pm – J Plays J: The Music of John Scofield
3:15 pm – The Cowboy Bebop Bebop Band

In addition to the above, there is also the Mardi Gras Strolling Parade on the Saturday, from 9:00 am until 10:00 am. It starts from the site of the Fort Langley Farmers Market at St. Andrew’s United Church and made its way down Glover Road to the Community Hall. Participating in the parade in 2025 is the RazzMaJazz Ensemble.

Jazz Musicians Outside Fort Langley Train Station — Mardi Gras Parade Outside the Station Museum

History of the Jazz Festival

The Fort Langley Jazz Festival is a fabulous event! It’s fun, family-friendly and affordable, and it takes place in a beautiful setting. It also features amazing Jazz musicians and concerts.

Since its founding in 2018, the festival took place as a live event in its first two years and then as a primarily virtual event in 2020. In 2021 it ran as a hybrid festival with a mix of pre-recorded, live-streamed and in-person concerts and events. Since 2022, the festival has been fully back with lots of in-person activities each year.

Click Fort Langley Jazz for the festival’s official website.

Jazz Festival Video

To give you an idea of what to expect, check out the following video that features the sights and sounds of the festival from a past year. As you’ll see, there is lots of live music as well as art displays and food to enjoy.

Featured in the video are Mike Vaneyes (in the distance), Blues Hoodoo, the local Rotary Club (at the pancake breakfast), and the Conga Cartel.

Tips & Advice

Below are some tips and suggestions to help you make the most of your Fort Langley Jazz Festival experience.

TIP #1: You can park for free on various streets in the town of Fort Langley. Go early, though, to improve your chances of finding a spot that doesn’t require you to walk too far. Parking is also available at 8870 Glover Road (in the parking lot of the Fort Langley Evangelical Free Church) and at 9095 Glover Road (at Living Waters Church).

TIP #2: Take your own blanket or chair to sit on.

TIP #3: If it’s a sunny day, don’t forget to take a hat and sunscreen. Bottled water is a good idea too.

TIP #4: Don’t spend all your time by the main stages in front of the Community Hall. Walk around and explore the area and all the activities on offer.

TIP #5: Dogs are allowed at the festival as long, as they are on a leash. You are also welcome to bring your own food. There are food trucks, though, so you can buy your meals and snacks on-site or around town too.

TIP #6: The festival venue is a smoke-free environment. That extends to vaping as well as other products legalized in Canada.

TIP #7: While you’re in the area, consider visiting the Fort Langley National Historic Site. It’s a very interesting place.