Connect Fest is gone. These are the events in Burnaby and nearby that we actually put on our calendar for 2026, reviewed as fans, not organisers.
← Full history of Connect Fest Burnaby
What We’re Attending in 2026
We looked for events that share at least one thing with what Connect Fest did: free or nearly free, community-rooted, accessible by transit, and worth showing up to on a weekend. Not everything on this list is an exact replacement. Nothing is. But these are the ones that made the cut.
StrideFest – The Closest Direct Successor
North Burnaby / Hastings Heights · March 21–28, 2026 · Free
StrideFest is organized by the Long Table Society, the same organization that ran events at Connect Fest Burnaby in 2024. That connection is not incidental. In structure and spirit, it’s the closest thing to what Connect Fest was doing in the Heights area.
The 2025 edition ran March 22–29 under the theme Just Imagine! Free programming across multiple locations in North Burnaby: visual art installations along Hastings Street, live music, poetry, artist demos, workshops. The main hub was Overlynn Mansion at 401 N Esmond Ave. Events at Shadbolt Centre for the Arts and McGill Public Library ran in parallel.
The format: an outdoor Art Walk along Hastings Street turns shop windows into gallery space. Local artists exhibit from the sidewalk. No tickets. No registration. Walk in.
The 2026 edition runs March 21–28 under the theme Just Wonder! The format hasn’t changed: art in unexpected places, free, no arts background required. An exhibition opening at Shadbolt Centre for the Arts on March 19. The full event calendar for 2026 is confirmed: March 21, bookbinding workshop, water weaving, Irish music. March 22, inkmaking with invasive trees, comics workshop. March 27 – community contradance. March 28 – full festival day at the Shadbolt plus a flamenco performance to close.
2025 sponsors: Government of Canada, City of Burnaby, Global BC, Tourism Burnaby. For a free neighbourhood event, that’s a functional funding stack.
StrideFest started in 2019. It runs in March deliberately, western Canada’s festival season is summer through fall. Unexpected art at unexpected times is part of the point.
✓ 2026 dates confirmed: March 21–28. Registration for workshops is free, but overbooking is their policy, show up early. Follow @stridefest on Instagram.
Hats Off Day – Burnaby’s Biggest Street Festival
Hastings Street, Burnaby Heights · June 6, 2026 · Free
Hats Off Day has run every year since the early 1980s. 60,000 people attend annually, more than Connect Fest’s total reach across all five days combined. That’s not a comparison meant to diminish anything. It’s just the scale of what this neighbourhood pulls off every June.
The 2026 theme is Under the Big Top. Circus energy, roving performers, five stages. The day starts with a Family Fun Dash at 9:30 a.m. – a short run down Hastings from Ingleton to Carleton, free, strollers and wheelchairs welcome. Parade follows at 10 a.m. from Beta Avenue to Boundary Road. Show & Shine car exhibition from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. along Willingdon to Gamma. The street closes to traffic for the full stretch from Boundary Road to Gamma Avenue.
It is organized by the Heights Merchants Association – a non-profit, non-partisan local business group. Corporate sponsors fund it. Admission has always been free. Outside vendors and non-Burnaby businesses are explicitly excluded – the event stays deliberately local.
One thing worth noting: Hats Off Day and StrideFest both happen on the same stretch of Hastings Street, months apart. Same neighbourhood, two different crowds. Hats Off Day is loud, high-attendance, family-oriented. StrideFest is quieter, art-forward, spread across a week. Between the two, Burnaby Heights has more free programming than most Metro Vancouver neighbourhoods.
✓ 2026 date confirmed: June 6. SkyTrain to Holdom or Brentwood Town Centre, short bus north. Parking along Hastings is closed all day.
Powell Street Festival – 50th Anniversary in 2026
Oppenheimer Park, Vancouver DTES · August 1–2, 2026 · Free
The Powell Street Festival started in 1977. Forty-nine years later it’s still in the same park, the same weekend, the same neighbourhood. In 2026 it turns 50 – August 1 and 2 at Oppenheimer Park.
Over 23,000 people attend across two days. The festival celebrates Japanese Canadian arts and culture in Vancouver’s historic Paueru Gai neighbourhood, the heart of the pre-war Japanese Canadian community before the 1942 internment. That history is not background context at this event. It is the program.
Over 60 events and 40 performances in 2025: taiko drumming, film screenings, martial arts, amateur sumo tournament, 50-plus food and craft vendors. Everything free. The 50th anniversary edition is built around honouring five decades of Japanese Canadian creativity and spotlighting emerging voices shaping the next generation of JC culture.
The exhibition Return to Paueru Gai: 50 Years of Powell Street Festival is already on display at the Nikkei National Museum in Burnaby (6688 Southoaks Cres) through September 5, 2026. The opening sold out. The exhibition is free during regular museum hours.
✓ 2026 dates confirmed: August 1–2. About 35 minutes from Burnaby’s Metrotown by SkyTrain.
Festival du Bois – 37 Years in Maillardville
Mackin Park, Coquitlam · March 2027 – next edition · Friday free, weekend ticketed
Festival du Bois has run every March in Mackin Park since 1990. The 37th edition wrapped – March 6–8, 2026. Organized by Société francophone de Maillardville, it’s BC’s largest Francophone festival.
Three days of fiddle-forward folk and world music, children’s programming, traditional Québécois food, and a Sunday pancake breakfast. Friday evening is always free. This year it sold out. Saturday and Sunday are ticketed: $34 per day for adults, children 12 and under free all weekend.
The 2026 lineup included Delhi 2 Dublin, Jocelyn Pettit Band, Nicolas Pellerin et Les Grands Hurleurs, and a Franco-Colombian student improv tournament. About 10,000 people attend over the three days.
Maillardville is BC’s first French-speaking settlement. The festival has been marking that for 37 years without rebranding, without chasing growth. Same park, same weekend, same community. About 20 minutes from Burnaby’s Metrotown by car.
✓ 2026 edition wrapped March 6–8. Next edition: March 2027. Subscribe to their newsletter at festivaldubois.ca for early announcements.
Nikkei Matsuri – Labour Day Weekend, Burnaby
Nikkei National Museum, 6688 Southoaks Cres, Burnaby · September 5–6, 2026 (TBC) · Ticketed – free for under 18 and 65+
Nikkei Matsuri is the Nikkei National Museum and Cultural Centre’s annual Japanese cultural festival, held every Labour Day weekend. The 2025 edition, its 13th year, ran August 30–31 at the museum in Burnaby’s southeast. Tickets were $12 advance, $15 at the gate. Free for anyone under 18 or over 65.
The format: taiko drumming, Mikoshi procession, Bon Odori dancing around the festival Yagura tower, samurai and martial arts demonstrations, Japanese food vendors, a marketplace, and a Beer & Sake Garden for adults. In 2025 the museum also marked its 25th anniversary, the lineup was larger than usual.
The museum sits 1.5 km east of Burnaby Car Free Day’s Edmonds Street location. On the Labour Day weekend, both events are within walking distance of each other, if the dates align, which they don’t every year. In 2026, Nikkei Matsuri is expected September 5–6 based on the Labour Day calendar. Car Free Day is August 30. Not the same weekend, but the same neighbourhood.
The museum is also hosting the Powell Street Festival’s 50th anniversary exhibition through September 5, 2026 – so the building is active as a cultural hub throughout the summer.
2026 dates: Likely September 5–6, Labour Day Weekend. Not yet confirmed as of March 2026. Check nikkeimatsuri.nikkeiplace.org for the official announcement.
Burnaby Car Free Day – Edmonds Neighbourhood
Edmonds Street between Kingsway and Mary Ave · August 30, 2026 · Free
Burnaby’s Car Free Day runs in the Edmonds neighbourhood – the same area that Connect Fest used as its Southeast Quadrant hub. The event is young: 2025 was the inaugural edition. 25,000 people showed up.
The 2025 date was August 31, noon to 5 p.m. Three stages: Community Stage, Family Stage, Main Stage. Food vendors, community booths, local performers. The City of Burnaby budgets around $124,000 for it, partially offset by sponsorships. TransLink is a presenting partner.
For context on scale: 25,000 visitors is smaller than Hats Off Day but comparable to what Connect Fest attracted across its entire five-day run in a good year. For a single-afternoon street event in one neighbourhood, that’s significant. The city confirmed it’s returning in 2026.
✓ 2026 date confirmed: Sunday, August 30, noon–5 pm. Vendor application deadline: June 19, 2026. Accessible via Edmonds SkyTrain station, short walk.
Smaller Burnaby Events in 2026
These events round out the calendar. Some are City of Burnaby signature events, some are neighbourhood-scale. All free or mostly free, all confirmed or expected for 2026.
Burnaby Blooms
City of Burnaby · May 2026 · Free
A city-run community marketplace in May featuring local makers, artists, and food artisans. Small by design, the kind of afternoon event Connect Fest used to anchor its quieter programming days.
National Indigenous Peoples Day
City of Burnaby · June 20, 2026, 1–5 pm · Free
One of the City’s confirmed 2026 special events. Cultural performances, community activities, family programming, open to everyone, free. An Indigenous artisans market runs alongside.
StreetFest on Central – Canada Day
Civic Square, Central Boulevard & Central Park · July 1, 2026, 6:30–10:30 pm · Free
Burnaby’s largest outdoor event (40,000-plus attendees). Main stage in Central Park, food trucks, family zone at Civic Square, fireworks at 10:15 pm. In 2025 the headliner was MAGIC! The 2026 lineup is unannounced as of March 2026. Two SkyTrain stations within walking distance: Patterson and Metrotown. Daytime Canada Day events also run at Burnaby Village Museum (11 am–4:30 pm) and Edmonds Plaza (11 am–2:30 pm), both free.
Burnaby Blues + Roots Festival
Deer Lake Park · August 8, 2026, 3:30–10 pm · Free
Free outdoor music festival at Deer Lake Park, behind Shadbolt Centre for the Arts. Running annually for over 20 years. In 2025 it headlined Grammy-winner Ani DiFranco alongside JUNO winner Aysanabee. Two stages, food trucks, beer garden. The 2026 lineup is unannounced as of March 2026. Buses 144, 110, 123, and 133 stop near the site. Free bike valet on site.
✓ 2026 date confirmed: Saturday, August 8. Lineup announced in June–July.
Where to Find Burnaby Events Today
Connect Fest was a convenient single source for community programming across all four Burnaby neighbourhoods. Nothing has replaced that function directly. In 2026, finding events in Burnaby requires checking a few sources.
— City of Burnaby events portal: burnaby.ca/recreation-and-arts/events
— Burnaby Public Library calendar: bpl.bc.ca/activities-events
— We Are Burnaby: weareburnaby.com
— Tourism Burnaby: tourismburnaby.com/explore/whats-on/
— CarFree.ca (regional Car Free Day dates): carfree.ca/city/burnaby
For Burnaby events today and upcoming, the City of Burnaby portal and Burnaby Public Library calendar are the two most reliable sources. They surface smaller neighbourhood events before they appear elsewhere. Tourism Burnaby skews toward larger ticketed events. We Are Burnaby covers the Heights area and StrideFest in particular.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, and there is something happening most months. StrideFest runs March 21–28 (free). Hats Off Day is June 6 (free). Burnaby Car Free Day is August 30 (free). Nikkei Matsuri is expected Labour Day weekend in September (ticketed, free for under 18 and 65+). For Burnaby events today and upcoming, the City of Burnaby events portal and Burnaby Public Library calendar are the most reliable sources.
Nothing replaced Connect Fest directly, no single event runs across four neighbourhoods for five days at that scale. StrideFest (organized by the Long Table Society, which also ran events at Connect Fest) is the closest in spirit. Hats Off Day is the largest free street festival in Burnaby. Both happen in the Heights area.
Burnaby Civic Square (adjacent to City Hall in Metrotown) hosts City of Burnaby programming throughout the year. Connect Fest used it as part of the Southwest Quadrant in previous editions. For current 2026 programming, check burnaby.ca/recreation-and-arts/events.
The Lougheed area, Connect Fest’s Northeast Quadrant, is the closest zone to SFU’s Burnaby campus. StrideFest’s Shadbolt Centre events are accessible from Brentwood or Production Way–University stations. For events specifically near Lougheed, the Burnaby Public Library Lougheed branch calendar is the most local source.