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. We can’t recommend it enough. In 2025 the festival ran from July 24th to 27th with the amazing Cool Blues Show happening on the 25th. The festival returns in 2026 and runs from July 23rd to 26th.

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 2026 the Fort Langley Jazz Festival runs from Thursday, July 23rd until Sunday, July 26th. 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 was the Cuban Jazz Dance Party Fundraiser at the Community Hall. It happened on May 30th, so a couple of months before the actual festival. The early fundraiser helps support the rest of the festival in the summer.

The Fort Langley Jazz & Arts Festival in 2025 ran from July 24th to 27th. On the second day (July 25th), there was the Cool Blues Show at Fort Langley Community Park. It was a ticketed event with live music, a beer garden, food trucks, and an Angry Otter Whisky Tasting Lounge.

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.

Continue reading to learn more about the festival’s ticketed and free events.

Free and Ticketed Festival Events

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

Go to the Fort Langley Jazz website for the most up-to-date details, and to buy tickets.

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 was 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 happened at the Fort Langley Community Hall on Friday, May 30th. The event ran from 7:00 pm to 11:00 pm and featured a silent auction, salsa dance lessons, and live music by Julio Avila Cuban Band. All proceeds from the auction helped support the upcoming July festival. Admission to the event cost about $40 per person.

Visit the Fort Langley Jazz Festival website for more information about this event.

Youth Concert Series Showcase

In 2025 there was the Youth Concert Series Showcase which led up to the festival. It ran on the Sundays of July 13th and 20th outside the Fort Langley CNR Station. On the weekend of the festival there were more performances featuring youth bands too.

Click Youth Concert Series Showcase to learn more.

Big Band Concert and Swing Dance

One of the ticketed events this past year was a pair of big-band jazz concerts with the Vancouver Legacy Jazz Orchestra. The performances took place from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm and from 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm on Thursday, July 24th, 2025. It was 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 pm to 8:00 pm (before the evening concert) there was a swing dance lesson at the ballroom that cost an extra $10 to participate in. Special guest Tom Arntzen also performed with the orchestra in the second performance.

Visit the Fort Langley Jazz Festival website to learn more about this event.

Cool Blues Show

There were also ticketed concerts in 2025 at 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 happened on Friday, July 25th, from 4:00 pm until 11:00 pm. At the park were multiple concerts with Blues & Roots music. There were also food trucks, a beer garden and an artisan market.

This year’s event featured a new Angry Otter Whisky Tasting Lounge as well. It included a flight of premium Canadian whiskies, along with access to a special lounge, a masterclass, and a take-home commemorative glass. Tickets for the tastings were sold separately and the one-hour sessions began at 5:15 pm and 7:15 pm.

Headlining performers at the event were Steve Marriner & Local Electric, Bywater Call, Jimmy D. Lane, Brandon Isaak, the Robert Connely Far Duo and Angelique Francis.

Early bird admission to the Cool Blues Show started at $55 for adults (ages 19+) and $33 for youth. Regular admission closer to the event date was about $75 for adults. Tickets for the Angry Otter Whisky Tasting Lounge cost an additional $28 each for adults. Kids ages 11 and under entered the Cool Blues Show for free when attended with a paying adult.

See the official Cool Blues Show and Angry Otter Whisky Tasting Lounge pages for more details.

A Tribute to Aretha Franklin

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

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

See the Fort Langley Jazz Festival website to learn more about the Aretha Franklin’s Legendary Music event.

Jazz AWE

The closing show of the 2025 Fort Langley Jazz & Arts Festival took place on Sunday, July 27th. It was a Jazz Alternative Workshop Experience (Jazz AWE) featuring Darlene Cooper.

The show was a musical edition of a Sunday church experience. It was held at St. Andrews Chapel at 9025 Glover Road. Admission was by donation and advanced registration was required.

Click Jazz AWE for more information about this event.

Festival Art Zone

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

In 2025 the workshops were free. There was an Acrylic Painting Workshop with Eric Holz from 12:30 pm to 2:30 pm on both the Saturday and Sunday. There was also the Mehndi Workshop with Baljeet Kaur between 3:00 pm and 4:00 pm on the Saturday and Sunday.

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

Free Concerts on the Weekend

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

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

As of early July, the lineup for the Art & Culture Stage had 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 – Julio Avila Cuban Sextet
3:00 pm – Feelin’ Alright: A Tribute to Joe Cocker

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

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 27th, 2025

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 was also the Mardi Gras Strolling Parade on the Saturday, from 9:00 am until 10:00 am. It started 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 each year was the RazzMaJazz Ensemble.

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

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

Check out the following video that features the sights and sounds of the festival from a past year to give you an idea of what to expect. 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.

TIP #8: Instead of travelling back and forth to the festival each day, consider staying at the Fort Camping campground at Brae Island Regional Park. An alternative experience is renting oTENTiks at the Fort Langley Historic Site.

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