Top 15 Most Popular and Famous Festivals in Canada

OCY [email protected] April 27, 2023 | 10:59

Annually, hundreds of festivals and holidays are celebrated in Canada attracting thousands of people.

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Hockey, beer, maple syrup, plaid, and politeness are just some of the things that have made Canada famous. Canada is one of the world's most ethnically and culturally diverse nations, and this is reflected in the country's many festivals. In Canada, you can attend some truly spectacular celebrations.

There are a lot of great celebrations and events that take place in Canada every year, but they may not get the attention they deserve.

Whether you're a visitor to the country or a Canadian native, KnowInsiders has compiled a list of 15 festivals across the country that you should research and visit at least once in your lifetime.

Photo: BrooklynVegan

1. Pemberton Music Festival

While there are many excellent music festivals in Canada, we felt that Pemberton's proximity to Vancouver and its world-class setting made it essential to include it here. After a large but poorly planned festival in 2008, Pemberton took a hiatus until 2014, when it returned under new management.

Although it may not be the best-organized festival in the world, the location at Pemberton in July is unbeatable. The acts at this festival are primarily electronic, hip hop, and rock. Camping with friends and listening to your favorite bands perform at Pemberton's Mount Currie is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that everyone should take advantage of if given the chance.

2. Celebration of Light

Photo: Tri-City News

The Honda Celebration of Light is the first of Vancouver's two fireworks festivals on this list, and it takes place over the course of three or four summer evenings. The Symphony of Fire, which began in 1990, holds the record for the longest running fireworks festival held offshore anywhere in the world.

Fireworks nights in Vancouver are extremely busy, with an estimated 1.4 million people attending over the course of three or four nights, but the show is well worth the hassle if you can find a good vantage point to take in the incredible 25 to 30 minutes of pyromusical spectacle. The 2017 Celebration of Light takes place on July 29, August 2, and August 5.

3. Shambhala Music Festival

Photo: Nelson Star

Although there are many excellent music festivals in Canada to choose from, the format and setting of Shambhala make it worth attending at least once. The family-run music and arts festival takes place on a 500-acre cattle ranch in Salmo, British Columbia, during the first week of August.

Shambhala, also known as the Canadian Burning Man, has a strict no-alcohol policy for attendees. Despite this, Shambhala is well-known for its lively party scene; however, it is also recognized as an industry leader in festival and drug safety, as highlighted by The National in 2015 (cited by kelownanow).

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4. Calgary Stampede

Photo: Daily Hive

The Calgary Stampede, which takes place every July, is a major tourist attraction inCanada. There are ten days of rodeo events, a parade, a midway, stage shows, concerts, and more that bring over a million people to Alberta's largest city.

The first Calgary and District Agricultural Society Fair was held in that year, 1886. Guy Weadick then turned it into his first rodeo and festival in 1912, which he called the Stampede. Since its inception in 1923, this festival has become an indelible part of every Canadian summer. When it comes to rodeos, the Calgary Stampede is up there with the biggest of them all. In 2008, it was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.

5. Taste of Edmonton

Photo: TasteAtlas

Taste of Edmonton is the only festival that is solely dedicated to satisfying your appetite, while the others simply feature food trucks and other culinary entertainment. Taste of Edmonton has grown from a one-week event to a 10-day festival that now draws half a million people every summer.

At Taste of Edmonton, you can test your culinary prowess in a variety of workshops while sampling dishes from some of Edmonton's best restaurants and food trucks. Visit the Sip 'n Savour tent for unique dishes from the city's best chefs, and learn more about local breweries and farms.

6. Toronto International Film Festival

Photo: Film

TIFF stands for the Toronto International Film Festival and is one of the world's largest film festivals. The festival, which has been held every September since its inception in 1976, attracts nearly 500,000 people. The TIFF presents new releases, live film events, and an interactive gallery at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in the heart of Toronto.

The Grolsch People's Choice Award is the most prestigious prize at the festival, decided by the audience's votes. This prestigious award has been won by such box office successes as Room, The Imitation Game, 12 Years a Slave, The King's Speech, Slumdog Millionaire, Silver Linings Playbook, Argo, Lion, La La Land, and Dallas Buyers Club.

7. Pride Toronto

Photo: Destination Toronto

You could go to Vancouver's Pride Festival and have a great time, much like the PNE vs. the CNE. However, Pride Toronto is renowned throughout the world as one of the biggest gay pride festivals ever organized. Although the 10-day festival can't pinpoint an exact number of attendees, recent estimates place the total for the week at about one million, with 100,000 of those people attending the parade.

The festival honors the arts and culture of Canada as well as the diversity of our sexual and gender identities. Beyond the well-known pride parade, the Toronto celebration includes a street fair, live performances, and art exhibits that are entertaining for all visitors.

8. Caribana

Photo: Culture Trip

Although many people are unaware of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival, formerly and more popularly known as Caribana, it is the biggest street festival in North America, drawing over 1.3 million visitors annually. Every summer in Toronto, a festival honoring Caribbean culture and traditions is held.

The festival, which features Caribbean music like steel pan, soca, and calypso, was first introduced to Canada by immigrants from various Caribbean Islands. The festival also offers a variety of food and parties with Caribbean themes, but the Parade of Bands is the main event and is characterized by its vibrant costumes.

9. The Vancouver Hot Chocolate Festival

Photo: Daily Hive

It is observed from January 20 to February 14. You should take advantage of the Vancouver Hot Chocolate Festival to treat yourself to a gourmet hot chocolate from one of the city's top cafes.

One-off hot chocolates will be available on the menus of a variety of cafes, bakeries, and chocolatiers throughout Vancouver. Throughout the event, each location will provide a variety of specialty hot chocolates, including Belgian chocolate, white chocolate, and dark chocolate.

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10. Boardwalk Ice on Whyte

Photo: The New Yorker

The dates for this festival are 25–28 January and 1-4 February. One of only three professional ice carving competitions in Canada, this well-liked festival in Edmonton features works by professionals who are well-known around the world.

Professional ice carvers from China, Russia, the Netherlands, Mexico, Malaysia, Nepal, the Philippines, France, Poland, Quebec, and Alberta will be present at this year's Boardwalk Ice on Whyte Festival.

The festival's competition will take place inside a massive tent to preserve all the carvings, and you'll be able to sample regionally brewed alcoholic beverages at the ice bar. On Saturdays and Sundays, all visitors will be able to take ice carving lessons, according to canadianaffair.

11. The Great International World Championship Bathtub Race

Photo: NZ Herald

Date of festival: 20-22 July

The Great International World Championship Bathtub Race and the Nanaimo Marine Festival have taken place in Nanaimo, British Columbia, every year since 1967.

The 36-mile bathtub race along the Strait of Georgia, with the finish line at Maffeo Sutton Park in Nanaimo, is one of the main events of the marine festival.

Even though it might seem absurd, this is actually very competitive, especially considering that the majority of bathtubs cost thousands of Canadian dollars and have 8 horsepower motors. Most importantly, it's a fantastically enjoyable day out, so start applauding those tubs!

There will also be fireworks, live music, and food vendors in addition to the race.

12. Osheaga, Montreal (August)

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Photo: Bonjour Québec

among the biggest festivals in the nation. The music fest is a several-day independent festival that features performances on six various stages. Osheaga, a music festival in Montreal's Sainte-Hélène's Island with numerous outdoor stages, attracted 120 000 music fans from North America and Europe in 2017.

Osheaga is a massive festival that focuses on music and visual arts. Its goal is to find local and national emerging talent and give them the chance to perform with some of the biggest names in the music industry, such as Coldplay, The Killers, Iggy & The Stooges, Sonic Youth, The Roots, Rufus Wainwright, Arcade Fire, Weezer, and Eminem.

13. L’International des Feux Loto-Québec, also known as the Montreal Fireworks Festival, Montreal (June/July)

Photo: Tripsavvy

the biggest and most prestigious fireworks show on earth. Every year, it draws about 3 million spectators, and each show features about 6,000 fireworks. Every summer, eight or nine pyrotechnical companies from various nations compete for the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Jupiters or trophies by putting on a 30-minute pyromusical show.

14. Peeks Toronto Caribean Carnival, formerly and still commonly called Caribana, Toronto (August)

Photo: Maclean's

It is aCaribbean Carnival celebration that has been dubbed the biggest street festival in North America. Over 1.3 million people attend the festival's final parade annually, and there are 2 million people in attendance overall. Caribbean Islanders who immigrated to Canada brought the festival with them.

It adheres to the format of a carnival, especially that of Trinidad and Tobago's Carnival, but it is also influenced by the street dancing and masquerading in costume that can be found on every Caribbean island, including John Canoe in Jamaica, Crop Over in Barbados, and other comparable festivals in Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. Every year, this festival is the one that brings the most money into Canada.

15. Quebec City Summer Festival, Quebec (July)

Photo: FYI Music News

This occasion is an annual 11-day music festival that usually kicks off on the first Thursday of July in Quebec City's downtown. The festival has made a name for itself on the music festival circuit with 135,000 passes sold, an annual attendance of 1.5 million festival-goers, and hundreds of performances spread across a dozen venues.

After deciding to broaden its musical selection and pursue international headliners from a variety of genres, including rock music, punk music, hip-hop, classical music, francophone music, world music, and most recently electronic music, as suggested by visa place, the festival experienced significant growth over the previous ten years.

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