The Shipyards Festival features live music, market vendors and family-friendly activities in North Vancouver’s Lower Lonsdale District in September.
The one-day event includes free admission, multiple stages, beer stations and all kinds of fun things to see and do. In 2021 it happened on September 25th from noon until 10:00 pm. In 2022 the festival returns on Saturday, September 17th.
Other awesome events happening on the same day as the Shipyards Festival this year are Circo Osorio Circus shows at Guildford Town Centre in Surrey and Vancouver International Flamenco Festival and Just for Laughs Comedy shows in Vancouver. The Whistler Village Beer Festival is also happening up in Whistler.
Other events taking place in North Vancouver in the fall include Brewhalla North Vancouver (which is a craft beer festival on October 7th) and North Shore Craft Beer Week (which runs from November 3rd to 15th).
Shipyards Festival in Lower Lonsdale
The Shipped Waterfront Festival celebrated its inaugural year in August of 2018 and it was a terrific event. Renamed the Shipyards Festival, it happened again on September 28th in 2019 and was even more fun, bigger and better! After a hiatus of one year, it returned on September 25th in 2021 and is on September 17th this year!
If you like live music, family-friendly activities, beer gardens, stunning views, free entertainment and spending time with friends, then you’ll definitely want to check out the Shipyards Festival. It’s a great event and suitable for all ages.
BREWHALLA BEER FESTIVAL IN OCTOBER
Brewhalla North Vancouver is a craft beer and music festival. In 2022 it takes place on Friday, October, 7th. The event features food trucks, live entertainment and lots of beer!
Shipyards Festival Video
Below is a video of North Vancouver’s Shipyards Festival in 2019. As you’ll see, the event attracts lots of people and there are concerts and things to do all over the Lower Lonsdale and Shipyards region.
Bands at the 2019 event and featured in the video include Sister Says, Hayvn, The Boom Booms and the Harpoonist & the Axe Murderer. The entertainment lineup in 2022 includes Said the Whale and Yukon Blonde among many other bands.
Where and When
The Shipyards Festival takes place in North Vancouver by the waterfront in Lower Lonsdale on Saturday, September 17th, 2022. The live entertainment and activities run from noon until 10:00 pm.
The Lower Lonsdale District of North Vancouver is one of the region’s most popular and interesting places. It’s home to Lonsdale Quay, the Polygon Gallery, SeaBus terminal, the Shipyards and numerous great bars and restaurants.
Located just a 15-minute SeaBus ride from downtown Vancouver, the Shipyards are where you’ll also find the Pipe Shop, Tap & Barrel Restaurant, Shipbuilders’ Pier, and the Lower Mainland’s newest and largest outdoor covered public plaza.
Also in the area is North Vancouver’s newest attraction – the MONOVA Museum which opened for the first time to the public on September 25th last year.
What to Expect
At the Shipyards Festival you can expect to see lots of people having fun. The event attracts families, young adults, seniors with their grandchildren, tourists visiting from abroad and locals from across the Lower Mainland.
At the event you’ll see child-friendly entertainment, folk age 19+ enjoying drinks while they wander around, and bands performing on the various stages. There are also food vendors, market vendors and kids’ play areas.
If you visit Lonsdale Quay and the Shipyards on a weekend in the summer, depending on when you go, you might see a farmers market, artisan vendors, food trucks or people doing yoga in the plaza by the SeaBus terminal or out on the pier. You might also see a band playing in Shipbuilders’ Square, art on display and people just wandering around and enjoying the place.
At the Shipyards Festival you can expect to see most if not all of the above, plus a whole lot more, and much of it happening all at the same time!
Expect to have a blast at the festival! And apart from the food and market items for sale, most of what you’ll get to do and see is free! It’s such a great event and the bands are phenomenal!
2022 Festival Entertainment
Live entertainment happens pretty much all day at the Shipyards Festival. Most years bands play on both the Shipbuilders’ Stage and the Shipyards Common Stage as well as a couple other places. Kid-friendly entertainers also perform at set times in the afternoon on the Family Stage.
2022 headliner acts are Said the Whale and Yukon Blonde, while other top performers include Bratpack, Raincity, Teon Gibbs, Lex Leosis, Adewolf, Babe Corner, Uncle Strut, Ellevator, Girly and Bad Magic.
The schedule for each stage in 2022 is listed below. (Note: Times and performer details are subject to change.)
Shipbuilders’ Square Stage
Bands scheduled to perform on the Shipbuilders’ Stage in 2022 include the following:
- 12:00 pm – Noodle Boys
- 1:00 pm – Nikkaela
- 2:00 pm – Off Topic
- 3:00 pm – Bad Magic
- 4:00 pm – Ellevator
- 5:00 pm – Lex Leosis
- 6:00 pm – Adewolf
- 7:00 pm – Raincity
- 8:00 pm – Yukon Blonde
Shipbuilders’ Square Stage is usually in Shipbuilders’ Square where the Shipyards Night Market used to take place on Friday evenings in the summer.
The stage in the square is a permanent outdoor structure that’s between the Pipe Shop (where the festival’s artisan market takes place) and the giant yellow crane. It’s also right beside the Tap & Barrel Pub and across the plaza from the Pier 7 Restaurant.
Shipyards Commons’ Stage
Groups that play on the Shipyards Commons’ Stage in 2022 include the following:
- 12:30 pm – Holy Felix
- 1:30 pm – Kealoha
- 2:30 pm – Ahsia
- 3:30 pm – Girly.
- 4:30 pm – Uncle Strut
- 5:30 pm – Babe Corner
- 6:30 pm – Teon Gibbs
- 7:30 pm – Brat Pack
- 9:00 pm – Said the Whale
Shipyard Commons is the new covered plaza at the Shipyards. Located just a few steps east of Shipbuilders’ Square near the start of the pier, it was completed in the summer of 2019 and is a wonderful venue. It’s huge, under shelter but still outside, and the acoustics are surprisingly good for concerts.
Car Free Day Stage
Groups performing on the Car Free Day Stage include the following in 2022:
- 12:00 pm – Moving City
- 12:45 pm – Tobacco Brown
- 1:30 pm – Sarah Osborne
- 2:15 pm – Anton Seth
- 3:00 pm – Kylie V
- 4:00 pm – Redwoods
- 5:00 pm – Bookclub
- 6:00 pm – Vox Rea
- 7:00 pm – Blonde Diamond
The Car Free Day Stage is likely located in Carrie Cates Court, which is where the Car Free Day event takes place on the same day in North Vancouver.
Seaspan Family Stage
Entertainers scheduled to perform on the Seaspan Family Stage in 2022 are listed below.
- 12:00 pm, 5:00 pm – Mike Battie
- 1:00 pm, 3:00 pm – Robin Reddy Show
- 2:00 pm – Mom Bop
- 4:00 pm – Kung Jaadee
Shipyards Festival Concert Video
To give you an idea of what one of the concerts looked like in 2021, check out the video below. It shows scenes of the performance by the band Bedouin Soundclash which is based out of Toronto.
The concert by Bedouin Soundclash was the biggest of the night because the band was one of the festival’s two headliner groups and the last one for the night. The concert by The Zolas last year was just as impressive and took place just before this one. The concert by The Zolas, however, took place outdoors in Shipbuilders’ Square, not Shipyard Commons (which is the covered area where the concert in the video took place).
As you can see in the video, the concert by Bedouin Soundclash was impressive! The festival was the first major music festival since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and the venue was packed. It was so much fun!
What’s In the Area?
There is a lot to see and do in the Lower Lonsdale area even when there isn’t a major festival going on. There is the world-famous public market at Lonsdale Quay, the Polygon Gallery and Shipbuilders’ Pier. All are free to explore (or by donation in the case of the gallery).
Also in Lower Lonsdale are dozens of great restaurants and interesting shops. It’s a beautiful place to walk around, enjoy a coffee, have a meal, treat yourself to an ice cream and simply hang out.
Lonsdale Quay is also connected to downtown Vancouver and Waterfront Station via the SeaBus which makes it a fabulously convenient location.
Other Information
For more information about the event see the Shipyards Festival‘s official website.
To learn more about the area check out any of the following:
For information about other events check out the following:
- Vancouver’s September and October Calendars
- Metro Vancouver Festivals & Events
- Shows & Entertainment Calendar
- Free Events in September
- Free Events in October
