The Whistler Village Beer Festival is an annual event at the resort town of Whistler. It features seven days of craft beer celebrations in September.
In 2025 the Whistler Village Beer Festival took place from September 8th to 14th. The main event was on September 13th. The beer festival is likely to occur around the same time in 2026 with exact dates to be confirmed.
Other events happening elsewhere in the Lower Mainland around this time include the Taste of Abby events in Abbotsford and the Stɑl’əw̓ Pow Wow in Langley. In Vancouver there is the Vancouver Fringe Festival and Main Street Car Free Day. All over the Lower Mainland, there will also be Terry Fox Runs on Sunday, September 14th.
To learn about the above and other events happening in September this year, see our Calendar of Events. To learn about the Whistler Village Beer Festival, continue reading.
This article contains the following information about the festival:
Dates and Location | Main Weekend Event | Festival Breweries | Live Music Lineup | Tips & Advice | Other Information
Whistler Village Beer Festival
The Whistler Village Beer Festival (WVBF) has run since 2013. The 2025 edition was its 12th annual.
Gibbons hosts the Whistler Village Beer Festival. The Gibbons group owns and operates many of Whistler’s bars and restaurants.
Places in the Gibbons group today include Buffalo Bills, the FireRock Lounge, Garfinkel’s, Longhorn Saloon, Stonesedge and Tapley’s Pub, all in Whistler.
Festival Dates and Location
In 2025 the Whistler Village Beer Festival ran from September 8th to 14th, with programming from 12:00–6:00 pm each day. The week built toward the main tasting on Saturday, September 13th.
Weekdays featured smaller events in village bars—tap takeovers, food pairings, and brewer meet-ups—while the weekend was the festival and the big tasting. In 2026 the dates will likely be similar but are still to be confirmed. Check the official site for updates.
The main tasting takes place at Whistler Olympic Plaza. Throughout the week, additional themed events roll out across pubs and venues around the village.
Festival Main Weekend Event
The main event of the 2025 Whistler Village Beer Festival took place on Saturday, September 13th. It ran from 12:00 pm until 6:00 pm in Whistler’s outdoor Olympic Plaza. The official afterparty was at the Longhorn Saloon from 6:00 pm till late.
Usually at the main event over 40 craft beverage creators set up around the plaza. Participants move from stall to stall exchanging tokens for their choices of over 80 types of beer and cider. Attendees receive an official WVBF sampling mug and there is live music as well. As many as 3,000 people attend in years with good weather.
Festival Breweries
At the Whistler Village Beer Festival dozens of different breweries participate. Some of them are from the Whistler and Sea-to-Sky area, and many are from Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. Most are from somewhere in BC with a small number from out of the province.
Participating breweries most years include Bomber Brewing, Bowen Island, Central City, Granville Island, Howe Sound, Stanley Park, Steamworks, Powell, Postmark, Okanagan Spring, Moody Ales, Parallel 49, Salt Spring Island Ales, the Whistler Brewing Company and many others.
Beer Competition
At the event each year, in addition to people sampling all the different brews, there is a judging of the products and people get to vote for their favourites.
In a recent year the overall first-place winner was Coast Mountain Brewing from Whistler. They’ve won the competition four years in a row! In first place for canned cocktails last year was Cinco Drink Co. from Mexico. Second place overall was Backcountry Brewing from Squamish. The winning breweries will have their beers featured at a couple of local pubs for the following year.
For the latest information about participating breweries and the 2025 winners, click Festival Beers.
Live Music Lineup
Bands and DJs perform at the beer festival each year. In 2025 the main stage lineup for Saturday, September 13th, is listed below.
Main Stage Lineup in 2025
11:00 am to 12:00 pm: Soul Club
12:00 to 12:15 pm: SLCC Ambassadors Welcome
12:30 to 1:30 pm: Matty Miller & the Barge Boys
1:30 to 2:00 pm: Great Canadian Stein Holding Contest
2:00 to 3:00 pm: The Zummers
3:00 to 3:30 pm: Hosen Hunks & Dirndl Divas (Best Dressed)
3:30 to 4:30 pm: JennaMae & The Groove Section
4:30 to 5:00 pm: Alpine Idol (Yodel Contest)
5:00 to 6:00 pm: Fresh Cut Grass
Tips & Advice
Below is some advice and extra information to help you make the most of your time at the Whistler Village Beer Festival.
TIP #1: Cash, Visa and MasterCard are all accepted at the weekend main events. An ATM is also available on-site.
TIP #2: The Whistler Village Beer Festival is an adult-only (19+) event. Children ages 18 and under are not allowed.
TIP #3: Except for registered service animals, pets are not allowed.
TIP #4: Re-entry to the weekend main events is not permitted. So make sure you have everything with you when you arrive and don’t go somewhere else halfway through and plan to return.
Other Information
To learn more about the festival, see the Whistler Village Beer Festival website.
In previous years the festival in Whistler was run jointly by both the Gibbons Group (which operates a number of pubs and restaurants in Whistler) and Brewhalla (which runs a number of beer festivals in the Lower Mainland). Other Brewhalla events that sometimes take place include craft beer festivals in Fort Langley, North Vancouver and other communities.
To learn more about Lower Mainland beers, breweries and beer festivals, click Vancouver Breweries & Beer.
For details about the town and other things to do in the area, click Whistler or Sea-to-Sky Region.
And for a list of other major events in the Lower Mainland, see the Festivals & Events Calendar or Vancouver’s September Calendar.
