6 Summer Festivals in Vancouver

Summertime is outdoor party time, and we've found six family-friendly festivals with al fresco dining and dancing in the street!

If you're hankering for a road trip, then hit the highway and head for Harrison Hot Springs. Be sure to take a dip at the Harrison Resort Public Pool (an indoor, hot mineral water pool) or splurge for an overnight stay at the resort.

There's no better place to beat the summer heat than the sandy beaches of White Rock. This seaside community's annual festival features a special children's parade and carnival complete with crafts, games and storytelling. An evening fireworks display and torchlight parade are also planned—fun if the kids are still awake!

Don't miss Family Dance Night, part of the weekly Evenings in Edgemont, in picturesque Edgemont Village. Young and old alike will enjoy grooving to the classic rock beat of The Bobcats. It's all part of a summer concert series running every Friday night (weather permitting). Other bands in the line-up play everything from country to Cajun music. Be sure to bring along a lawn chair and an appetite—Japa Dog and Roaming Dragon will be on the street!

Catch a classic village vibe at Music Under the Clock on summer Saturdays from 12 to 4 pm. Get the family together and swing by the clock (41st and Yew) for live music.

The Illuminares Lantern Festival is one of the best summer festivals for family fun in Vancouver. Over 25,000 people of all ages gather at dusk with their handmade lanterns, wild costumes and painted faces. Four musical ensembles on each corner of the lake will enchant festival goers as they stroll in a lit procession around Trout Lake. Expect the real fun to start when the sun goes down. Fire jugglers, musicians and dancers will perform to the beat of rhythmic drums. We love the local, grassroots spirit behind the Illuminares Lantern Festival.

If 25,000 paraders seems daunting for your crowd, Wild Lights Lantern Festival in Edgemont Village will be a good pyro-alternative. Like its bigger cousin, this event culminates in a fire lit procession of a mere 5,000 people (a majority of them children) through the quaint village with musicians, clowns, stilt walkers, torch throwers, dancers and other costumed performers. Your North Shore tips include attending a lantern-making workshop offered by the North Vancouver Community Arts Council before the event and saving some room for ice cream in the Village.