Fort Langley's Cuban Jazz Dance Party

Each spring the Fort Langley Jazz Festival hosts a special fundraising event. In 2025 the Cuban Jazz Dance Party features music, dancing and a silent auction.

The event this year happens on May 30th. It starts with an hour of salsa dance lessons followed by a show and auction, with the proceeds from the night helping fund the main festival.

To learn more about the festival that this event helps raise money for, check out our Fort Langley Jazz & Arts Festival article. To buy tickets to the Cuban Jazz Dance Party, visit the Fort Langley Jazz website.

Julio Avila Cuban Band (at a concert at the PNE)

Cuban Jazz Dance Party in Fort Langley

The Fort Langley Jazz & Arts Festival is a great event that happens in July each year in the town of Fort Langley. The 2025 dates are from July 24th to 27th.

Before the main festival, there are some events in the late spring and early summer. One of them is the annual Fort Langley Jazz fundraising event. In 2025 it’s the Cuban Jazz Dance Party on Friday, May 30th. Other pre-festival events are the Fort Langley Jazz Youth Concert Showcase Series which, in 2025, happen on July 13th and 20th (as well as during the festival on the weekend of July 26th and 27th).

Where and When

The Cuban Jazz Dance Party happens on Friday, May 30th, from 7:00 to 11:00 pm at the Fort Langley Community Hall. The venue is located at 9167 Glover Road which is in downtown Fort Langley and just a few minutes away from the Fort Langley National Historic Site.

Tickets to the 2025 event cost $40 with 100% of proceeds benefitting the Fort Langley Jazz & Arts Festival. If you want to take part in the salsa dance lessons at the beginning of the night, that costs an extra $10.

There are a limited number of tickets available, so there will only be tickets at the door if the event doesn’t sell out beforehand. Last year the festival’s fundraiser didn’t have any tickets left the night of the event (so get your tickets soon)!

Community Hall at Fort Langley — Fort Langley Community Hall

What to Expect at the Cuban Jazz Dance Party

The night starts with salsa dance lessons from 7:00 to 8:00 pm. They are run by Anji Alvarez of Timba Cubana Dance School which is a local company based in Burnaby. The lessons aren’t too advanced, so they’re good for those who have no experience salsa dancing or those who do but want a refresher.

Those dancing skills will come in handy the rest of the night when the Julio Avila Cuban Band takes the stage. The 10-piece band features plenty of percussion as well as trumpet, saxophone, clarinet and piano.

The final three hours of the event (from 8:00 to 11:00 pm) features a dance floor during the live music, as well as a silent auction where you can bid on various items and local experiences.

For full details and to buy tickets for the event, go to the Fort Langley Jazz website.

Julio Avila Cuban Band

Past Fort Langley Jazz Fundraisers

The annual Fort Langley Jazz fundraiser event is a bit different each year. In 2024 the event was titled Tribute to Motown and featured local band Big City Soul who covered hits from artists like James Brown and Aretha Franklin. The event that year took place on May 3rd, also at the Fort Langley Community Hall. It sold out before the night of the event and raised about $10,000! In a previous year, the event was with the Dal Richards Band.