Christmas in Vancouver is mostly wet, often mild and very well lit. What the city lacks in snow it makes up for…
Vancouver doesn’t get much snow, but it does get long, dark December evenings, and the region makes the most of them. Between…
There’s no single Santa in Vancouver. He’s on top of Grouse Mountain, in a yurt on Mount Seymour, in a gazebo on…
Christmas in Vancouver is full of lights and markets, but for many families in the region it’s also a hard time of…
Three days is the sweet spot for a Christmas trip to Vancouver: enough to see the big light shows and the markets,…
Where you stay makes a big difference to a Christmas trip to Vancouver. Pick the right area and you can walk to…
Christmas Lights & Tree Lightings
Vancouver doesn’t get much snow, but it does get long, dark December evenings, and the region makes the…
For a lot of Vancouver families, the season doesn’t really start until they’ve walked VanDusen in the dark.…
Ask anyone in the Tri-Cities where to see Christmas lights without spending a cent and they’ll say Lafarge.…
For a lot of families here, Christmas doesn’t really start until someone counts down from ten and a…
There’s a moment halfway across the Capilano Suspension Bridge at night when the bridge sways a little, the…
There’s a particular hush that falls over the crowd outside the Vancouver Art Gallery on the last Friday…
Messiah is the sound of Christmas for a lot of Vancouverites, and the Vancouver Bach Choir’s performance at the Orpheum is the…
A Christmas Carol without a word of dialogue. The Wonderheads tell Dickens’ story with full-face masks, 10-foot puppets, an original score and…
Metro Theatre’s Christmas pantomime is a Vancouver family tradition: a proper British-style panto with a pantomime dame, a villain to boo and…
Vancouver gets two Nutcrackers this Christmas. Before the local Goh Ballet production, Canada’s oldest ballet company, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, brings its…
The East Van Panto is Vancouver’s most local Christmas show: a loud, silly, family pantomime packed with neighbourhood jokes, songs and audience…
Three museums in Vanier Park team up for a free one-day winter market on Sunday, December 6, 2026:…
Roedde House Museum in the West End holds its holiday market inside the restored 1893 house itself, with…
The Nikkei Craft Fair is a favourite early stop for Christmas shoppers who want something a little different:…
The Deer Lake Winter Craft Festival is one of Burnaby’s longest-running holiday traditions, and it’s on this weekend:…
Langley has its own European-style Christmas market this year. Langley Christmas Village opens in downtown Langley City on…
Boxing Day 2026 falls on Saturday, December 26, which means a full weekend of sales right after Christmas.…
Santa, Parades & Family Fun
There’s no single Santa in Vancouver. He’s on top of Grouse Mountain, in a yurt on Mount Seymour, in a gazebo on…
Vancouver is a good place to be a kid at Christmas. There’s a Santa on top of a mountain, a heritage train…
Every November, people search for the Vancouver Santa Claus Parade and come up short, so let’s answer that first: the big downtown…
Down in the city it’s probably raining. Ride the Skyride up Grouse Mountain in December, though, and there’s a decent chance you’ll…
Most Christmas train rides in Metro Vancouver are miniature trains that loop around a park. The North Pole Express is a different…
Christmas Around Metro Vancouver
Surrey has quietly become one of the busiest Christmas cities in the region. It has the old Bright…
Head east from Vancouver at Christmas and the events get bigger and the crowds get smaller. Langley has…
The City of Vancouver packs a lot of Christmas into a small space. Downtown has the big market…
If you could only spend one Christmas day in Metro Vancouver, the North Shore would be a strong…
Burnaby and New Westminster are easy to overlook at Christmas, squeezed between Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. That’s…
Richmond does Christmas best in Steveston, its old fishing village at the mouth of the Fraser River. For…
Plan Your Vancouver Christmas
Three days is the sweet spot for a Christmas trip to Vancouver: enough to see the big light shows and the markets,…
Where you stay makes a big difference to a Christmas trip to Vancouver. Pick the right area and you can walk to…
Looking for Christmas things to do in Vancouver this weekend? Here’s every weekend of the 2026 holiday season in one place, from…
If you’re picturing a snowy Christmas in Vancouver, it’s time to adjust the picture. December here is mild, dark and wet. It…
Christmas in Vancouver can get expensive fast. Light-show tickets, market entry, parking and a round of hot chocolate add up, especially for…
Christmas Eve 2026 is a Thursday and Christmas Day a Friday, which means a long weekend for a lot of people. Christmas…
Latest Posts
Messiah is the sound of Christmas for a lot of Vancouverites, and the Vancouver Bach Choir’s performance at the Orpheum is the…
A Christmas Carol without a word of dialogue. The Wonderheads tell Dickens’ story with full-face masks, 10-foot puppets, an original score and…
Metro Theatre’s Christmas pantomime is a Vancouver family tradition: a proper British-style panto with a pantomime dame, a villain to boo and…
Vancouver gets two Nutcrackers this Christmas. Before the local Goh Ballet production, Canada’s oldest ballet company, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, brings its…
The East Van Panto is Vancouver’s most local Christmas show: a loud, silly, family pantomime packed with neighbourhood jokes, songs and audience…
Tucked behind the Park & Tilford shopping centre in North Vancouver, Park & Tilford Gardens is two acres of themed gardens looked…