Vancouver Wine Festival

The Vancouver International Wine Festival is a major food and wine event. It features wineries from around the world at various Vancouver venues in the spring.

In 2027 the event celebrates its 48th year between March 8th and the 13th.

Note: On June 25th, 2026, the Vancouver International Wine Festival presents Solstice Soirée. Hosted on the roof of LaSalle College Vancouver, this one-night event kicks off the summer with a food and wine pairing walkabout. Attendees can enjoy local flavours as well as wines from Argentina, France and Italy. Solstice Soirée runs from 6:30 to 8:30 pm and individual tickets cost about $110 each. Visit vanwinefest.ca for full event details.

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Wine Festival Wine Store

The Vancouver Wine Festival

The Vancouver International Wine Festival takes place each spring. It typically features over 1,000 wines from around 15 or so countries. As many as 25,000 attendees participate in the dozens of events throughout the festival!

Click Vancouver International Wine Festival for the event’s official website.

Wine Sampling at the Festival

Festival Wines & Wineries

For the 2026 edition, 114 wineries from 14 countries participated. Countries and the number of wineries from each are listed below. (Note: Exact numbers and other details were subject to change.)

France (27)
Canada (34)
Italy (13)
USA (7)
Croatia (7)
Japan (7)
Spain (4)
Chile (4)
Australia (3)
Argentina (2)
Portugal (2)
Romania (2)
New Zealand (1)
Uruguay (1)

TIP: Make a night out of your Vancouver International Wine Festival experience and spend a night at a downtown hotel. StayVancouverHotels.com has been a proud sponsor of the wine festival and offers exceptional deals.

About the Wine Festival

The Vancouver International Wine Festival has three objectives. The first is to educate and entertain the public with wine experiences. The second is to promote the wine industry. The third is to financially support the Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival.

The wine festival is an impressive event. From humble beginnings in 1979, it has grown into arguably Canada’s best and most prestigious wine show. It’s also one of the largest and oldest wine festivals in the world.

The festival features about 50 events each year, of which around 40 are open to the public. Another dozen or so are for people in the wine, wine-related, and hospitality industries.

Lots of hotels and restaurants participate each year, and 120+ wineries serve over 1,000 wines. Tens of thousands of bottles of wine are typically opened and/or purchased annually at the festival.

Sampling Wines at the Festival — Wine Samples at the Festival

Admission Prices

Ticket prices to events at the Vancouver International Wine Festival vary by experience.

In 2026, prices ranged from $109 for International Festival Tasting sessions to $545 and up for premium events such as the Bacchanalia Gala Dinner + Auction. Some of the full-table gala options reached several thousand dollars.

Ticket prices included wine tastings, and food was included for designated dining events. All prices already included taxes and service charges.

Most tickets were sold for individual events, although multi-event options such as the International Festival Tasting (IFT) Pass were also available. The 2026 IFT Pass was priced at $299 and provided access to all four International Festival Tasting sessions held March 12th to 14th.

Tickets for the general public go on sale well in advance each year. For the 2026 festival, advance tickets for the International Festival Tastings went live in late 2025. Winery dinners, additional public events and the trade events, on the other hand, were released on staggered dates in January.

Popular events sell out early, so get your tickets in advance. Click Wine Festival Tickets for further details.

Click Vancouver International Wine Festival for the event’s official website.

Vancouver Wine Festival Video

Check out the following video to get an idea of what to expect at the festival. The video features scenes from the Festival Tasting event (2020) and the Wine Seminar (2019) at the Vancouver Convention Centre. It also shows people socializing at the auction event just before the Bacchanalia Gala Dinner (from 2019).

Wine Festival Events

The wine festival features a wide range of events and it ran for eight days in 2026. Events included the Bacchanalia Gala Dinner, International Festival Tastings, wine seminars, winery dinners, wine parties, and more. While not every event sells out each year, many of the most popular experiences do.

The festival includes both public and trade-focused events. Most days feature public events, while the early part of the festival is dedicated to Trade Days for wine and hospitality industry professionals.

The Vancouver International Wine Festival is best known for its food–and wine-focused events. Some of the most popular events are listed below. See our article about the Wine Festival Events or visit the official VIWF website at vanwinefest.ca for more details.

Vancouver Wine Festival at the Pipe Shop

Bacchanalia Gala Dinner + Auction

The Bacchanalia Gala Dinner + Auction is the Vancouver International Wine Festival’s signature fundraising event. The Gala consistently sells out each year well in advance. In 2026, the black-tie affair took place on Saturday, March 7th, at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver. The hotel’s address is 900 West Georgia Street.

Single tickets and tables of eight were available. Ticket prices ranged from around $545 per person to premium table packages for groups of up to $6,600. Early-bird pricing offered savings for tickets purchased before mid-December (subject to availability).

Widely regarded as one of Vancouver’s premier social evenings of the year. The event always features a fancy multi-course dinner paired with wines, alongside live entertainment, dancing, and auctions.

The Bacchanalia Gala Dinner + Auction raises money annually to support Bard on the Beach Shakespeare festival, helping to sustain the arts in Vancouver. The gala raises between about $100,000 and $160,000 each year, with net proceeds benefiting the Shakespeare Festival.

Click Bacchanalia Gala Dinner for more information about the event.

Click Vancouver International Wine Festival for the event’s official website.

Christopher Gaze at Bacchanalia Reception — Bard Founder Christopher Gaze at Bacchanalia Gala

Trade Days Conference

The Trade Days Conference is a two-day professional program that happened during the Vancouver International Wine Festival on March 12th and 13th in 2026.

It is typically designed for people working in the wine, hospitality, restaurant, retail, and beverage industries. The conference offers a more business-focused festival experience compared to the public festival.

Trade Days features tastings, seminars, lunches, and networking events. There are opportunities to sample wines that are not available to the public. The conference also hosts the Wine Program Excellence Awards and other industry recognition events.

Attendance is known to reach thousands of industry professionals from across Canada and beyond. The 2026 Trade Pass was $335. Individual event tickets were also available for purchase separately.

The Tasting Room

The main attraction at the Vancouver International Wine Festival is arguably the Tasting Room. In 2026, it took place from March 12th to 14th. The Tasting Room featured hundreds of wines at four International Festival Tasting events. The sessions took place on the dates and times listed below.

Thursday, March 12th, 2026: 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm
Friday, March 13th, 2026: 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm
Saturday, March 14th, 2026: 2:30 pm to 5:00 pm
Saturday, March 14th, 2026: 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm

Some years the Tasting Room events take place at the Vancouver Convention Centre, in the East Building, located at 1055 Canada Place. In 2026, however, they happened in the East Building, at Canada Place, at 999 Canada Place, in Exhibit Hall B.

The International Festival Tastings are almost the same across all sessions, although the Thursday evening tasting is typically the least crowded.

Tickets cost around $119 for the Thursday evening event and the Saturday afternoon tasting. Friday and Saturday evening tastings cost around $129.

Click International Festival Tastings for more information.

Other Events at the Festival

In addition to the gala and tastings, the 2026 festival offered a wide range of food and wine events for every level of wine lover. Keep reading below for an overview of other events offered at the wine festival, or see our more in-depth article on Vancouver Wine Festival Events.

Winery Dinners

Winery Dinners are sit-down dinners focused on a single winery or region. Chefs create menus to match the wines being poured. The Vancouver International Wine Festival featured more than a dozen winery dinners in 2026. Prices ranged from about $175 to $255 per person. Tickets included all food, wine, gratuity, service charges, and taxes.

A few of the dinners from 2026 are listed below (details were subject to change). See our full article on Vancouver Wine Festival Events for the full list of dinners at the Wine Festival.

The Soul of Napa Valley: Monday, March 9th, 2026, 6:30 – 10:00 pm ($225). A fancy dinner that highlighted premium Napa Valley wines. This dinner took place at Riley’s Steakhouse in Coal Harbour.
A Night in Rioja: Wednesday, March 11th, 2026, 6:30 – 10:00 pm ($175). An evening focused on Spanish wines from Rioja, which featured wines paired with a Spanish-inspired menu. This dinner took place at Espana Restaurant in the West End.
Taste of Tuscany: Tuesday, March 10th, 2026, 6:30 – 10:00 pm ($200). A Tuscan-themed winery dinner with Italian wines matched to regional dishes happened at Italian Kitchen on Burrard Street.

Wine Glass and Festival Crowds

Wine Seminars

Wine Seminars take place during the festival, offering guided tastings led by experts. These sessions focus on regions and trends. They are great for anyone looking to learn more about wine. In 2026, there were 3 wine seminars. Times and prices were subject to change.

The Shape of Wine: Thursday, March 12th, 2026, at The Vancouver Club ($125). This seminar looked at how glass shape affects aroma, flavour, and texture, with guided tastings to compare the differences.
A Tour de France in Your Glass: Thursday, March 12th, 2026, at Vancouver Convention Centre ($95). This seminar gave a tasting journey through several French wine regions, highlighting styles, grapes, and traditions.
Passport to Global Wines: Friday, March 13th, 2026, at Vancouver Convention Centre ($75). An introduction to wines from around the world, with a focus on emerging regions and diverse wine styles.

Lively Lunches & Wine Parties

Lively Lunches are daytime lunches highlighting a specific country or region. Wine Parties, which are more casual tastings where guests move from station to station. They are social, fun, and easygoing. Some of them include light food. At the 2026 festival, there were 3 lively lunches and 1 wine party. Details are listed below (and were subject to change).

9th Annual PICA Kitchen Brunch: Saturday, March 14th, 2026, at PICA Kitchen ($139). A lively multi-winery lunch which featured food dishes paired with a wide range of international wines.
Taste of France at LaSalle Brunch: Saturday, March 14th, 2026, at LaSalle College ($109). A French-themed lunch with classic dishes and French wines.
Think Pink! A Rose Brunch: Saturday, March 14th, 2026, at The Farmhouse ($119). A rose-focused lunch which showcased different styles of rose paired with light food.
Cruising California Wine Party: Wednesday, March 11th, 2026, at The Loft at Earl’s Yaletown ($75). A relaxed walk-around tasting which featured a range of California wines, with light bites and a red carpet.

Click Vancouver International Wine Festival for the event’s official website.

Vancouver Wine Workshop Attendees — Wine Tasting Seminar

Tips & Advice

Below are some tips and suggestions to help you make the most of your experience at the Vancouver International Wine Festival.

TIP #1: If you’re a wine enthusiast and can afford the tickets, go! It’s not every city that hosts one of the continent’s most prestigious wine festivals! It’s a great event.

TIP #2: Reserve your tickets early. Popular events can sell out weeks in advance.

TIP #3: Make a note of which wines you like so you can remember them for another time. You’ll get to sample many, so don’t forget which ones are your favourites.

TIP #4: The International Festival Tastings at the Convention Centre are the festival’s biggest events. If you can, go to the one on Thursday evening. It’s the least crowded and offers the best opportunity to chat with the vendors.

TIP #5: Wines are available for sale at the Wine Shop at the four International Festival Tastings events. Just don’t forget to plan in advance how you’ll carry all your purchases home.

TIP #6: Consider turning your wine festival experience into a mini vacation. If you do that, and you book your hotel through the website StayVancouverHotels.com at least a week or so prior to your stay, you can usually get a free ticket to one of the Festival Tasting Room events. To get this deal, however, you usually have to book a week or so before the festival starts. See the VIWF website for details.