Indigenous People's Day in Vancouver

There are many events to celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day in Vancouver on or around June 21st each year. They can be both educational and fun.

National Indigenous Heritage Month Events in Vancouver

National Indigenous Heritage Month is in June every year and National Indigenous Peoples Day is on June 21st. The day recognizes and celebrates Indigenous culture in Canada and there are events all over the country to commemorate it. The City of Vancouver in particular has multiple events to enjoy. They include activities at Grandview Park, Kitsilano Showboat, the BC Sports Hall of Fame, Bill Reid Gallery, Carnegie Community Centre, and Stanley Park.

To learn about events taking place across the region, see our article about National Indigenous Peoples Day in the Lower Mainland. For details about events within the City of Vancouver specifically, keep reading.

Note: The City of Vancouver is on the unceded traditional lands of the Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish and Musqueam Peoples.

Grandview Park

The biggest Indigenous Day celebrations in Vancouver take place on June 21st at Grandview Park. The park is located at 1657 Charles Street. The festivities used to be held mostly at Trout Lake, but that changed in recent years.

In 2024 the day begins with a Celebration Walk from the Vancouver Aboriginal Community Policing Centre Society to Grandview Park. The walk starts at 1719 Franklin Street and it’s about 15 minutes long.

Once at the park there is an Indigenous market with local vendors, an art-making demonstration and live music. Performing at the park this year are Hayley Wallis, Zach Saunders and One Way Sky. The festivities at the park run until 4:00 pm.

For more information about the event, visit the Britannia Community Centre website. To see what the event looked like in a past year, see the following video.

Kitsilano Showboat

The Kitsilano Showboat is an annual series of free outdoor summer concerts and performances. The entertainment takes place at the southwest end of Kitsilano Beach on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in June and July.

The 2024 season starts on June 21st with a special National Indigenous Peoples Day-themed show. The night begins at 7:00 pm with the Urban Aboriginal Drum Circle led by Steven Seegerts. Then Indigenous dancer and storyteller Katisha Paul takes the stage for her performance.

Kitsilano Showboat also has special performance nights for Multiculturalism Day on June 27th and Canada Day on July 1st. For the full schedule, check out the Kitsilano Showboat website.

BC Sports Hall of Fame

The BC Sports Hall of Fame is a great year-round attraction. One good reason to check it out in June is the Indigenous Sport Gallery. The gallery is a celebration of the contributions that Indigenous communities and athletes have made in the history of sports in British Columbia. The gallery also aims to highlight those who have been unfairly left out of the spotlight in the past.

In 2024, on both June 21st and 22nd, there are complimentary guided tours of the Indigenous Sport Gallery. To make the experience even more accessible, the gallery can be explored virtually at indigenoussportgallery.com.

To learn more either visit bcsportshall.com or see our article about the BC Sports Hall of Fame.

Bill Reid Gallery

The Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art is located at 639 Hornby Street in downtown Vancouver. The gallery is usually free to visit on June 21st, which may or may not be the case again in 2024.

This year the gallery hosted an event the week before Indigenous Peoples Day. On June 15th, 2024, there was the Indigenous Artisans Market inside the Bill Reid Gallery. Entry to the market came with general admission to the venue. Everyone who showed either a compass card or proof that they took transit to get there received 2-for-1 admission.

The market included 15 different Indigenous vendors of various kinds. Visitors could check out cedar weaving, prints, beadwork and more.

For more details about the event and its venue, visit the Bill Reid Gallery website.

Carnegie Community Centre Block Party

A new event that took place for the first time in 2023 is a block party held at the Carnegie Community Centre at 401 Main Street. The event returns this year on June 21st from noon until 6:00 pm.

The party takes over the block in front of the community centre and includes singing, dancing, community organization displays and more. Performers in 2024 include J.B. The First Lady, Mannix, D.J. Angle, the Haida Dance Group, Ember Sparxx and other local artists.

For more details on the event check out the Carnegie Community Centre Block Party Facebook page.

Indigenous Culture Under the Stars

A free movie night takes place at Stanley Park on Saturday, June 22nd. The event is at Ceperley Meadow at Second Beach which is the same location as Stanley Park Cinema movies on Tuesday evenings in July and August. At the event on June 22nd there are also Indigenous vendors, food for sale, and singing and dancing by the Coastal Wolf Pack (a.k.a. Tsatsu Stalqayu).

The movie is Slash/Back by Nyla Innuksuk. The 2022 science fiction film is about a group of teenaged Inuit girls and an alien invasion. It’s sort of a horror flick, but not so scary. It’s fairly family friendly and lasts for about an hour and a half.

The event begins in the afternoon, at 2:00 pm. Admission is free and the schedule of events for the day is the following:

2:00 pm – Indigenous market opens
8:00 pm – Tsatsu Stalqayu Coastal Wolf Pack
9:15 pm – Movie begins

To learn more about this event, see the City of Vancouver‘s website.

Other Information

For other events taking place around June 21st in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, click National Indigenous Peoples Day in the Lower Mainland.

For information about Indigenous events taking place at other times of the year, check out our article on Lower Mainland First Nations.

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is on September 30th each year. This holiday is more serious in nature as it’s a day to reflect on the horrors of Canada’s past residential school system. It’s important to commemorate, however, and there are events on that day throughout the region.

Other articles that might be of interest include the following: