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Vancouver Folk Music Festival

Vancouver Folk Music Festival

Taking place at beautiful Jericho Beach in July each year, the Vancouver Folk Music Festival is one of the Lower Mainland’s premier music festivals.

In 2025 the Vancouver Folk Music Festival ran from July 18th to 20th. The 2026 festival dates are to be confirmed.

Visit thefestival.bc.ca for the festival’s official website.

 

In this article you’ll find information about the following:

When and Where | Admission | Concert Lineup Schedule | What to Expect | Beer Garden | Festival Food | Little Folks Village | Artisan Market | Festival Advice | Other Information

Click on any of the above links to jump to a specific topic, or continue reading to learn all about the Vancouver Folk Music Festival.

 

Vancouver Folk Music Festival at Jericho Beach

Attracting thousands of folk music enthusiasts over the three days, the festival features dozens of workshops and performances by artists from a variety of countries.

Celebrating its 48th anniversary in 2025, this year’s festival happened on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of July 18th to 20th. The full lineup of performers is further below.

 

Visit the Vancouver Folk Music Festival website for full details about this event.

 

Vancouver Folk Fest Crowds at Dusk
Vancouver Folk Music Festival at Dusk

 

Where and When

The Vancouver Folk Music Festival takes place at the park at Jericho Beach in Vancouver. In 2025 it happened on the weekend of July 18th to 20th. The hours of operation are from 2:00 pm to 11:00 pm on the Friday and from 9:00 am until 11:00 pm on Saturday and Sunday.

Jericho Beach is one of Vancouver’s most beautiful beaches. It’s just east of Locarno Beach. At the western edge of Jericho Beach is the Jericho Sailing Club and on the eastern side is the Vancouver Yacht Club. The addresses of those two places are 1300 Discovery Street and 3811 Point Grey Road respectively.

 

Admission to the Festival

Ticket prices for the Vancouver Folk Music Festival vary depending on how many days you wish to attend, your age, and when you buy your tickets. Early bird rates were in effect until 11:59 pm on June 18th, 2025.

 

2025 Early Bird Full Weekend Tickets

Below were the early bird prices for the full weekend.

  • Adults: $225
  • Seniors (ages 65+): $195
  • Students (ages 20+ with ID): $150
  • Youth (ages 13 to 19): $150
  • Children (ages 12 and under): free when accompanied by a paying adult

 

2025 Early Bird Friday Evening Tickets

Below were early bird admission prices for the Friday evening.

  • Adults: $70
  • Seniors (ages 65+): $55
  • Students (ages 20+ with ID): $35
  • Youth (ages 13-19): $35
  • Children (ages 12 and under): free when accompanied by a paying adult

 

2025 Early Bird Saturday and Sunday Tickets

Below were the single-day early bird admission prices for the Saturday or Sunday.

  • Adults: $120
  • Seniors (65+): $100
  • Students (ages 20+ with ID): $75
  • Youth (ages 13-19): $75
  • Children (ages 12 and under): free when accompanied by a paying adult

 

2025 Full Weekend Tickets

Below were the regular admission prices for the full weekend when purchased online in advance.

  • Adults: $250
  • Seniors (ages 65+): $220
  • Students (ages 20+ with ID): $165
  • Youth (ages 13 to 19): $165
  • Children (ages 12 and under): free when accompanied by a paying adult

 

2025 Friday Evening Tickets

Below were the regular admission prices for the Friday evening when purchased online in advance.

  • Adults: $85
  • Seniors (ages 65+): $70
  • Students (ages 20+ with ID): $45
  • Youth (ages 13-19): $45
  • Children (ages 12 and under): free when accompanied by a paying adult

 

2025 Saturday and Sunday Tickets

Below were the single-day regular ticket prices for the Saturday or Sunday when purchased online in advance.

  • Adults: $150
  • Seniors (65+): $125
  • Students (ages 20+ with ID): $90
  • Youth (ages 13-19): $90
  • Children (ages 12 and under): free when accompanied by a paying adult

 

Visit the official Vancouver Folk Music Festival website for tickets and full details about the concerts.

 

Frazey Ford at Folk Fest
Frazey Ford at the Festival (in 2022)

 

Concert Lineup and Schedule

The Vancouver Folk Music Festival attracts some fairly big names in the folk music world. If you really like folk music, you will likely have heard of a number of each year’s performers. If you like folk music but aren’t seriously into it, however, then you might have heard of one or two. And even if you’ve never heard of anyone before, we bet you’ll like tons of new music at the event.

There are so many concerts and workshops to enjoy throughout the festival each year. The schedule for 2025 is listed below.

Note: Performer details were subject to change. See the official Vancouver Folk Music Festival website for the latest details.

 

Friday July 18th (2025) Concerts 

 

Friday Evening Concerts on the MAIN STAGE (2025)

 

Friday Concerts on the East Stage (2025)

 

Robben Ford at Folk Fest

 

Friday Concerts on the West Stage (2025)

 

Friday Concerts on South Stage (2025)

 

See the Vancouver Folk Music Festival website for the most up-to-date information.

 

Vancouver Folk Fest Crowds

 

Saturday July 19th (2025) Concerts and Workshops

 

Saturday Evening Concerts on the MAIN STAGE (2025)

 

Saturday Concerts and Workshops on the East Stage (2025)

 

Folk Fest Singers

 

Saturday Concerts and Workshops on the West Stage (2025)

 

Saturday Concerts and Workshops on the South Stage (2025)

 

See the Vancouver Folk Music Festival website for the most up-to-date information.

 

Viper Central in Concert

 

Sunday July 20th (2025) Concerts and Workshops

 

Sunday Evening Concerts on the MAIN STAGE (2025)

 

Sunday Concerts and Workshops on the East Stage (2025)

 

Vancouver Folk Fest Side Stage
A Stage Near the Festival’s West Gate

 

See the Vancouver Folk Music Festival website for full details about this event.

 

Sunday Concerts and Workshops on the West Stage (2025)

 

Sunday Concerts and Workshops on South Stage (2025)

 

Saxophonist from Robben Ford Band at Folk Fest

 

What to Expect at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival

At the Vancouver Folk Music Festival you can expect three days of amazing folk music performances by dozens of local, Canadian and international singers and bands on multiple stages spread out over the lawns at the park by beautiful Jericho Beach.

You can also expect thousands of people enjoying not only the music, but also the festival food and artisan market. There are also special activities for children, like face painting and crafts. In past years there was one beer garden. In 2025, however, there were several places where you could buy beer and wine from.

 

Mandolin Orange Band at Folk Fest

 

Festival Beer Garden

In past years there has been a beer garden at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival which served both wine and beer. The beer garden area had tons of tables, many of which had umbrellas for shade. In 2025, instead of one single beer garden, you could buy beer and wine at a few different stations. You could also enjoy the alcoholic beverages almost anywhere on-site.

 

Visit thefestival.bc.ca for tickets and full details about this event.

 

Folk Music Festival Food

The Vancouver Folk Music Festival always has a great selection of food for sale – everything from healthy vegan dishes, to ethnic cuisine to junk food. There’s something for everyone, and it’s all so delicious.

In the past, most of the food vendors were concentrated in a food court-type area in the northeast corner of the festival venue. Last year they were spread out over four or so different places on-site.

 

Food Trucks at Folk Fest
Food Trucks at the Festival

 

Little Folks Village

The Little Folks Village at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival is full of fun things for kids to do. The area is open from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm on the Friday, and then from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm on Saturday and Sunday.

There are arts and crafts, parachute games and other creative activities to try. The Little Folks Village also features live entertainment. Expect to see live music, juggling, storytelling and other performances.

 

The Artisan Market

The Artisan Market at the festival features over 35 vendors selling all kinds of beautiful and interesting things.

At the market you can find everything from handmade soaps to African drums and clothing. You’ll also find hats, bags, sunglasses and all kinds of jewellery. Even if you don’t plan to buy anything, it’s interesting just browsing.

Click Artisan Market Community Village to learn more about the market.

 

Folk Fest Artisan Market
Artisan Market at the Festival

 

Tips & Advice

Below are some tips to help you make the most of your Vancouver Folk Music Festival experience.

TIP #1: If you’ve never been to the Vancouver Folk Music Festival before, unless you really don’t like music, go! The evening headliner concerts alone are worth the price of a full day’s ticket.

TIP #2: If you order your tickets online at least three days in advance you’ll save yourself a few dollars.

TIP #3: The festival is a cashless event. That means you’ll only be able to pay for things (like food, drinks, souvenirs and admission at the gate) with debit, Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover Cards, Apple Pay or Google Pay.

TIP #4: In 2025 the Celebration of Light fireworks competition kicked off on Saturday, July 19th. Performances at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival likely pauses so everyone could appreciate the fireworks display that night, and the view from Jericho Beach is actually pretty good!

TIP #5: People say that in past years when it has rained the event was still incredible. Beautiful sunny weather for an outdoor music festival is ideal. If the weather isn’t perfect, though, don’t let that stop you.

 

See the Vancouver Folk Music Festival website for full details about the concerts.

 

Robben Ford at Vancouver Folk Music Festival
Robben Ford at the Festival (in 2022)

 

Suggestions on What to Take

TIP #1: Take a water bottle. It can be hot at Jericho Beach in July and the festival provides water stations where you can refill your bottle. And if you think you’ll really need cooling off, take your swimsuit too – the ocean can be freezing cold, but Jericho Beach is one of Vancouver’s finest. Also, time your dip in the water when the tide is coming in. If the sand is hot the water warms remarkably.

TIP #2: Take public transit if you can, or ride your bike, because with thousands of festival goers all at the same place, parking can be challenging. Take good walking shoes and don’t be surprised if you have to walk a considerable distance. If driving, go early and try your luck. Or, if you can, put bicycles on your bike rack and plan to park and then cycle.

TIP #3: There are bicycle parking locations near both the West and East Gates by West 4th Avenue. You can leave your bike there for a donation. The parking areas are secure and supervised spots and you’ll get a ticket which you can then use to get your bike back later.

TIP #4: Leave your pets at home. Dogs are not permitted, unless they are service dogs for people with special needs.

 

Vancouver Folk Music Festival Videos

Below is a short video clip of people having fun at the festival from a few years ago to give you an idea of what to expect. Below that, there is another video with scenes of the festival from 2023.

 

 

And here is what the festival looked like in 2023.

 

 

Other Information

See the Vancouver Folk Music Festival website for further information on the festival in general.

Check out Vancouver’s Best Places’ July Calendar for other great events taking place this same month, or the Vancouver Festival Calendar for a list of the Lower Mainland’s other top events and festivals.

Click Free Summer Concerts for a list of other music venues in July and August.

Other articles that might be of interest include the following:

The Vancouver Folk Music Festival takes place at Jericho Beach in Vancouver, on the unceded, traditional territories of the sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Coast Salish Peoples.