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 2026 the Whistler Village Beer Festival takes place from September 14th to 20th. The main event happens on September 19th.
Other events happening elsewhere in the Lower Mainland around the same time include the Taste of Abby events in Abbotsford and the Stalew Pow Wow in Langley. In Vancouver, there is the Vancouver Fringe Festival and Main Street Car Free Day. All over the Lower Mainland, there are also Terry Fox Runs on the second Sunday of September.
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. In 2026, it celebrates its 13th anniversary!
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 2026, the Whistler Village Beer Festival takes place from September 14th to 20th. Programming usually runs from 12:00-6:00 pm each day. However, the full event schedule is yet to be announced.
Throughout the week, themed events roll out across pubs and venues around the village. The week of events builds toward the main beer tasting at Whistler Olympic Plaza. In 2026, the main tasting happens on Saturday, September 19th.
Weekdays feature smaller events in village bars-tap takeovers, food pairings, and brewer meet-ups-while the weekend is the festival and the big tasting.
Festival Main Weekend Event
The main event of the 2026 Whistler Village Beer Festival takes place on Saturday, September 19th. Usually, the main event runs from 12:00 pm until 6:00 pm in Whistler’s outdoor Olympic Plaza. Last year, the official afterparty was at the Longhorn Saloon from 6:00 pm till late. The afterparty and full details for 2026 have yet to be announced.
At the main event, guests can expect to see 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, Parallel 49, Salt Spring Island Ales, the Whistler Brewing Company and many others.
Beer Competition
At the main 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.
Live Music Lineup
Bands and DJs perform at the beer festival each year. The 2025 main stage lineup for Saturday, September 13th, is listed below (the 2026 schedule is likely to be comparable).
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 are some pieces of 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 jointly run by 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.
Another website that might also be of interest is VancouverFoodFestivals.ca.
