Who’s Taking the Stage This Year

The headliners split the two days cleanly. Saturday closes with 54-40, the Canadian alt-rock veterans who have been collecting gold and platinum albums since the 1980s and are still known for one of the more reliably energetic live shows on the circuit. Sunday closes with Kulwinder Billa, the Punjabi singer and actor whose following in the Lower Mainland tends to make Sunday evening the louder of the two nights.

The supporting lineup covers more ground than most multi-day festivals manage. On the same bill across the weekend: Aché Brasil bringing Afro-Latin percussion and dance, Burnstick performing Métis and Plains Cree folk, the Dumpsta Dragons playing traditional ethnic instruments alongside instruments built from recycled household items (the Moroccan hockey stick and Persian tennis racquet are both real), and Dr. Strangelove, a six-piece Vancouver cover band with three decades of live shows who take requests mid-set. The full performers list spans rock, Punjabi, Afrobeats, Celtic, Bollywood, jazz, and Indigenous music across all stages, covering more range than a typical Surrey music festival weekend.

Come Hungry, Then Walk the World

The pavilion grounds are one of the festival’s main draws, especially for visitors coming for food. Fifty countries, each one run by members of that community, and the menus reflect it. The Canada pavilion leans entirely into bannock, with salmon sandwiches, bannock tacos, and bannock dogs, and it is always busier than you would expect. The Brazil pavilion does pastels, the Ukraine pavilion does perogies with borscht, Peru brings fish ceviche and fried calamari, and somewhere in the middle of it all someone is handing out Taiwanese bubble tea next to a booth doing Jamaican patties.

Food is paid separately at each pavilion. The festival runs mostly cashless, though there is a cash card tent on site if you come without a card. No prices are published in advance, and the full pavilions list changes year to year, so the only real strategy is to come hungry and make decisions as you go.

The move that most regulars figure out after their first year is to come as a group, split the buying across as many countries as possible, and share at a table. It covers more ground and avoids the paralysis that comes from trying to choose between Korean and Kenyan when both lines are short.

The Cultural Cooking Arena adds another layer on both days, with a youth cooking competition on Saturday and live chef masterclasses on Sunday. The Indigenous Village runs alongside the pavilions with traditional cultural sharing, a Métis pavilion, and an Indigenous marketplace. For families with younger children, the Family Zone has games, crafts, and performances running throughout both days.

Saturday, Sunday, or Both?

Both days run the same hours, and the split is clean enough to make a case for either one depending on what you are after.

Saturday draws the bigger crowd. 54-40 closing the night is a proven local draw, and the pavilion lines tend to peak mid-afternoon when the early arrivals and the post-lunch wave hit at the same time. If Saturday is your day, the morning hours are noticeably quieter, and the food lines move faster before the park fills up.

Sunday has a slower build. The evening picks up considerably toward the close, and if the Sunday headliner is the reason you are coming, it is worth staying late.

Getting There Is Easy. Parking Is Not.

Holland Park sits directly across from King George SkyTrain station, which is the kind of venue placement that almost feels deliberate. The Expo Line drops you at the gates, Surrey Central is a short walk in the other direction, and you spend exactly zero time looking for parking on a July weekend when every spot within three blocks has someone standing next to it looking hopeful.

Speaking of which, parking is limited, and the crowds make that obvious quickly. Surrey City Hall has paid underground spots a few blocks away, but they fill up fast once the afternoon crowd arrives. The short version is that transit is the move, and the SkyTrain actually makes it easy.

If you are coming from out of town or connecting through YVR, a private car can make the trip easier, especially for groups, families, or anyone arriving with luggage.

The Stuff Nobody Tells You at the Gate

The festival is easy to reach. It is slightly less easy to enjoy it when you’re unprepared.

July in Surrey is reliably warm, and the park has limited shade, so a hat and a foldable chair will do more for your day than most things you are tempted to leave at home. Light layers help if you arrive during the afternoon heat and stay until the 10:00 PM close.

Bags are searched at the gates, and sealed beverages get pulled. An empty reusable bottle gets through fine, and there are water stations on site once you are in.

The Beer Garden requires two pieces of ID for a wristband: a government-issued photo ID and a secondary piece with your name and signature. One piece is not enough, and finding that out at the entrance is a frustrating way to start the evening.

For anyone who might need a quieter moment mid-day, the festival runs a Sensory Space hosted by the Canucks Autism Network from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM both days, with noise-cancelling headphones and sensory toys available inside.

Passports Optional

Somewhere between the Peruvian ceviche and the Jamaican patties, most people stop keeping track of how many pavilions they have visited. That is roughly when the festival starts working the way it was designed to. Fifty countries, two days, free admission. The math does not quite add up until you are standing in the middle of it.

For visitors coming in from outside the city or arriving straight from YVR, arranging private transportation in advance tends to be the simpler option than hunting for parking on a hot, busy weekend. Show up, eat everything, repeat tomorrow.

The post Surrey Fusion Festival 2026: How to Make the Most of the Weekend appeared first on Griffin Transportation Services.

What’s Flying in 2026

The Snowbirds headline, but the full performers list has more going on than the poster suggests. The CF-18 Hornet Tactical Demo, the E/A-18 Growler, and the MiG-17F Fresco, a Soviet jet from the 1950s that now turns up at airshows in the same countries it was built to challenge, are all flying across all three days. Red Bull brings three separate acts: Pete McLeod in aerobatics, Aaron Fitzgerald in an aerobatic helicopter, and the Red Bull Skydive Team. Melissa Burns and Tom Larkin round out the civilian program.

• Friday (Twilight Show): Gates 2:30 PM to 10:00 PM. Full lineup in the evening, including Snowbirds, Red Bull Air Force, CF-18, and MiG-17F, closing with the North Star Drone Show and fireworks. Friday only.
• Saturday: Gates 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM. Full daytime program with the same main acts. The busiest day of the three.
• Sunday: Gates 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM. Full daytime program, with the Snowbirds closing the show.

What You’re Paying For

The gap between pre-sale and walk-in tickets is real enough that buying at the gate starts to feel like a decision you made on purpose.

All sales are final: no refunds, no exchanges, rain or shine. If your plans could shift before August, read the full terms and conditions before purchasing.

Getting to the Show

The airshow’s reputation for traffic is as consistent as its reputation for jets. Highway 1 and the main routes through the Fraser Valley turn into a multi-hour standstill on airshow weekend, and locals are not exaggerating when they describe normal five-minute drives becoming three- or four-hour waits. Parking is managed in part by volunteers, which means entry queues can be unpredictable, and August in Abbotsford is hot enough that sitting in a stationary car with the air conditioning running is a standard pre-gates experience rather than a rare one.

The airshow itself has a directions page that is useful to check before you go, but the more practical question is when to leave rather than which road to take. Coming from Vancouver, Surrey, or anywhere along the Lower Mainland, earlier is almost always better. If the parking situation sounds like it would take the edge off the day, sorting out a ride in advance is a reasonable call.

Before the Tarmac, Leave the Flip Flops at Home

Most first-timers show up underprepared for the same three things.

Ear protection is the one people feel most embarrassed about forgetting. Jet engines at operational volume on the tarmac at Abbotsford International Airport sound different than they do on a screen, and it surprises people every year, especially young children.

There is virtually no shade on the runway apron. A hat, sunscreen, and a lightweight folding chair will do more for your day than most of the gear you are tempted to leave at home.

Empty reusable water bottles are allowed through the gates, and there are free refill stations on-site. On a hot August day out there, that matters more than it sounds.

What You’ll Remember Most

Most people show up for the jets and leave having spent more time than expected next to a Soviet-era aircraft, watching a helicopter do things that seem structurally inadvisable, and eating their way through a food truck lineup that nobody saw coming. The flying is the reason to come. Everything else is why the campground sells out before most people think to check.

For anyone driving in from the city, traffic is the one part of the day to sort out before you leave. Arranging a private car before you go makes the whole thing considerably easier. Everything else, just show up and look up.

The post Abbotsford International Airshow 2026: What’s Flying, What to Book, and What to Bring appeared first on Griffin Transportation Services.

When, Where & How to Get There

The Richmond Night Market runs from April 24 to September 20. It’s open every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, plus holiday Mondays. Friday and Saturday nights run from 7 PM to midnight, as do Sundays that fall on statutory holidays. Regular Sundays and holiday Mondays wrap up a bit earlier, closing at 11 PM. It’s located at 8351 River Road, a short walk from the Bridgeport Canada Line station. Given that every road into Richmond crosses a bridge, SkyTrain is the path of least resistance on a busy Friday night.

Driving works as well, but parking fills up fast on weekends and the on-site paid lot fills up early. Knight Street Bridge and Highway 99 also tend to slow to a crawl once midnight hits and everyone leaves at the same time. For anyone coming from further out, like Vancouver, Burnaby, or the airport corridor, some visitors skip the headache entirely and arrange a private car in advance. Bus connections to Bridgeport exist but thin out after 11 PM, so check the last departure if you’re planning a late one.

What’s New for 2026

The market’s theme this year is “Little Wonder World,” built around large-scale LED displays and scaled-down replicas of global landmarks scattered throughout the grounds. It’s more visual than interactive, but it gives the space a different feel from previous years and offers people something to stop and look at between food stalls.

The soccer angle is hard to miss. With Vancouver hosting FIFA World Cup matches this summer, the market has leaned into the moment with a dedicated soccer-themed installation. Expect a crowd around it on match days.

One addition that’s been getting attention is the Night Market Trading Card Zone, a dedicated area for Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and sports cards. It runs as an ongoing card show for the full season, with rotating vendors and space to sit down and trade.

On the food side, new items this year include ramen donuts, salmon noodles, and Japanese crispy crepes. Lines for new arrivals tend to move slowly at the start of the season while stalls find their pace, so if something looks popular, going back for it later in the evening usually saves some waiting.

There’s also a new “After Dark” entry option: $5 admission after 10:00 PM, paired with late-night vendor discounts from a handful of stalls. The crowds thin out, the queues get shorter, and the whole market becomes a lot easier to move through. If the idea of paying less and fighting fewer people for a ramen donut sounds appealing, it’s genuinely worth planning around.

Tickets and Lines

Getting in is straightforward, but knowing your options ahead of time saves a bit of fumbling at the gate.

• General admission: $7 per person
• Children under 7 and seniors 60 and over: free
• Zoom Pass: $40 for six entries, includes express lane access, transferable, in-person purchase only
• After Dark: $5 after 10:00 PM, paired with late-night vendor discounts

Worth knowing before you get there: a good number of stalls are cash only, and while there are ATMs on site, the queues for them get long on busy nights. Coming prepared saves the detour and keeps the evening moving.

Queues at the food stalls are where most of the waiting happens. Newer items and viral foods draw the longest waits, especially early in the season when word spreads faster than stalls can keep up. Weekend evenings between 8 and 10 PM are consistently the busiest window, and the Trading Card Zone and entertainment stage are a practical way to fill time between food runs without standing in a queue.

The Food (The Real Reason You’re Here)

With over 500 dishes spread across 100+ booths, the food alley is where most people spend the bulk of their evening, and it moves at its own pace. The range runs from Japanese shrimp karaage and BBQ squid to birria tacos, gochujang chicken corn pizza, and the market’s long-running signature, the Rotato, a spiral-cut potato fried on a stick that sounds gimmicky until you’re three bites in. The new additions to their roster have been drawing some of the longer queues so far this season.

Pricing is more reasonable than most outdoor food events. Every stall offers at least one item under $10, and drinks are capped at $7 all night. It’s the kind of place where grazing across five or six spots ends up costing less than a sit-down dinner. Most first-timers underestimate how much ground there is to cover, though, and try to stick together as a group through the whole alley, which slows everything down considerably. Splitting up, picking a meeting point, and comparing notes tends to work a lot better.

So You’ve Eaten. Now What?

The Skyrush Zipline is the market’s most talked-about non-food stop. 600 feet across four side-by-side lines, about 30 seconds in the air, $25 for adults and $15 for kids. It fills up fast on weekend evenings, so getting there before the food queues pull everyone in different directions is the smarter move.

The Mega Pinball Duck Race is harder to explain than it is to get sucked into. Pick your duck, watch it navigate a pinball-style water course, and try not to get too invested when it gets stuck on a bumper right before the finish line.

The main entertainment stage runs free performances throughout the night, from K-pop crews and local bands to martial arts and acrobatics. The lineup changes across the season and often night to night, so checking the schedule board when you arrive is worth the thirty seconds before you commit to a food queue.

More Than Just a Food Market

Most people walk in expecting to eat. They leave having ridden a zipline, lost a duck race, and spent twenty minutes at a trading card booth they had no intention of visiting. The food is the reason to show up. Everything else at the Richmond Night Market is why people come back with a Zoom Pass already in their pocket.

If you’re coming from outside Richmond, it’s worth sorting out your transit or arranging a ride ahead of time, because between the bridges and the late-night crowds, getting there is the one part of the evening that rewards a bit of planning. Everything else, just show up and see where the night takes you.

The post Richmond Night Market Survival Guide: Food Stalls, Weekend Crowds, and Getting There appeared first on Griffin Transportation Services.

It’s the official FIFA-sanctioned hub for British Columbia, created around live match broadcasts, a full concert program, and enough space to actually spread out. A little planning goes a long way.

A Closer Look at the Layout

The festival takes place at 2901 East Hastings Street in East Vancouver. The centerpiece is a brand-new 10,000-capacity open-air amphitheatre: a $104 million structure that doubles as a permanent legacy venue for the city long after the World Cup ends. Beyond the main stage, the broader grounds include large screens broadcasting more than 70 live matches, food stalls, sponsor activations, a family play area, and interactive installations.

The PNE Grounds have hosted large-scale gatherings for over a century. The layout gives organizers real space to work with: enough room to spread things out so the fans can attend on peak days without everyone pressing into a single bottleneck.

Getting to the Festival Without the Lot Stress

Parking at Hastings Park is extremely limited. The organizers are direct about this: take transit, walk, or use the secure on-site bike valet. Two SkyTrain lines put you within easy reach: the Expo Line to 29th Avenue Station or the Millennium Line to Renfrew Station. From either, TransLink runs a dedicated shuttle bus along Renfrew Street to the PNE entrance. On Canada match days in particular, expect crowds and plan for extra travel time.

If you’re traveling as a group, arriving from out of town, or simply want a stress-free door-to-door option, a private vehicle is worth considering. Rideshare apps will have designated on-site pickup and drop-off zones, but post-match waits tend to run long when thousands of fans leave at once. Booking for this route means a confirmed pickup at a set time, no surge pricing, and no circling the block. That becomes especially useful on high-traffic nights like the Canada matches or the Mötley Crüe concert on July 12.

Tickets and Upgrades

General admission to the festival grounds is free: you walk in. The general floor area (roughly 2,600 spots) also operates on a free, first-come basis for match broadcasts.

If you want a guaranteed seat or faster entry, premium tickets through TicketLeader cover reserved seating and fast-track access to the gates. These sell out for high-demand dates, so book early if you’re targeting the Canada home games or the bigger concert nights.

Not every tournament match will appear on the screens; late-night kickoffs are excluded. Confirm the broadcast schedule before making the trip.

More Than Match Screens: The Music Schedule

The Vancouver FIFA Fan Festival runs one of the largest live music programs the city has seen in years: over 120 artist performances across the 28 operating days. The Park Stage runs free concerts daily; the main venue hosts the ticketed headliner series, each night paired with a live match broadcast.

Here’s how the confirmed dates break down:

• June 11: The Revivalists, Current Swell, Los Dorados
• June 12: Down with Webster, The Funk Hunters, Famous Players
• June 18: Chromeo (Live), Mariachi Tabasko
• June 25: Our Lady Peace, Dr. Strangelove
• June 26: Metric, Ozomatli
• June 27: Alan Doyle, Bedouin Soundclash
• June 28: Shakey Graves, The Sadies
• July 2: Simple Plan, JJ Wilde
• July 3: Ziggy Marley, Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer
• July 4: Walk Off the Earth, The Washboard Union
• July 5: Thievery Corporation, Elisapie
• July 7: Arkells, Boy Golden, Shawn Hook
• July 9: Flo Rida, Rêve
• July 11: Dallas Smith, The Heels
• July 12: Mötley Crüe, Finger Eleven, Toque

The range covers Canadian rock and indie (Arkells, Metric, Our Lady Peace, Simple Plan), Americana (Shakey Graves), reggae (Ziggy Marley), funk and electronic (Chromeo, Thievery Corporation, The Funk Hunters), and country (Dallas Smith). Most attendees will find at least two or three dates worth planning around. July 12 is the one most likely to sell out reserved seating first.

How to Plan for Food, Weather, and Crowds

The festival pulls in vendors from across Vancouver’s culinary scene, so food options are genuinely varied, but arrive before peak match time if you want to skip the longer lineups. On payments, carry a physical card at minimum; relying solely on a phone in a dense crowd is a gamble.

Weather-wise, June and July in Vancouver average 18-22°C, though evenings cool down and rain is always possible. The venue has 6,000 covered seats and 4,000 open-air spots, so if you end up on the general floor or at an outer screen, a light layer and a compact rain jacket are worth packing.

Families are well accommodated: the grounds include a dedicated interactive play area for younger kids, away from the main crowd, and strollers are expected rather than tolerated. That said, the site is large, so plan for more walking between zones than you’d expect from a typical indoor venue.

For international visitors, Canada’s entry requirements are entirely separate from any US visa requirements. Those from visa-exempt countries need a Canadian eTA (CAD $7, applied online), while anyone requiring a full Canadian visa should apply well in advance, as processing timelines vary significantly by country.

Sort the Details, Then Enjoy the Festival

The 2026 World Cup comes to Vancouver once. The festival runs free, spans 28 days, and brings 25,000 people together for the same reason to show up. Whether you’re there for Canada vs. Qatar, a Ziggy Marley set, or just the atmosphere that builds when that many people watch football together, the planning you do now is the difference between a great night and a frustrating one.

Sort your transit or book your ride, check which matches are actually broadcast before you go, and grab reserved seating early for the dates that matter to you. The rest takes care of itself.

The post FIFA Fan Festival Vancouver 2026: What Fans Should Know Before Going appeared first on Griffin Transportation Services.