Vancouver’s VanDusen Botanical Garden is worth seeing any time of the year, but especially during the Festival of Lights at Christmas time in December.
In 2023 the event ran from November 24th until January 7th, 2024. Exact dates for the 2024/2025 season are to be confirmed.
For tickets and full details about the event, see the official Festival of Lights website.
NOTE: The Festival of Lights was recently named one of the “World’s Most Spectacular Holiday Light Displays” by Condé Nast. If you go, especially if you see the light show over Livingstone Lake, you’ll understand why!
Where and When
The Festival of Lights takes place at VanDusen Botanical Garden which is located at 5151 Oak Street in Vancouver. Its main parking lot is just off West 37th Avenue. There is usually street parking along Oak and nearby side streets.
The event ran from November 24th in 2023 until January 7th in 2024. The garden is open every day for the Festival of Lights from 4:00 pm until 10:00 pm, except for December 25th when it is closed on Christmas Day. After Christmas Day it’s open for the same hours, so from 4:00 pm until 10:00 pm, every day including Boxing Day and New Year’s Day up until January 7th, 2024.
Festival of Lights Admission
Admission to the Festival of Lights typically costs between about $11.00 and $24.00 per person depending on your age.
To gauge pricing, below were the admission rates for the Christmas season in 2023/2024. Tickets can be purchased online. All prices exclude taxes and online fees. We expect the prices to be comparable during the event’s end-of-year run in 2024.
What to Expect, See and Do
In addition to the million spectacular lights, the Festival of Lights also features dancing light shows that last about eight minutes and take place every 20 minutes from the top of the hour. They are really good! Be sure to watch them at least once (or maybe twice from different angles). Also, don’t miss the illuminated Rose Garden, Japanese Maples and, of course, the various light tunnels for the perfect holiday photo.
The lights at VanDusen themselves are absolutely wonderful. They are displayed throughout the different gardens and around the various ponds. They are always spectacular! Also expect to hear holiday music and enjoy some food!
Disclaimer: Frogs Landscaping Inc is not the owner of, nor a stakeholder in, this project. We feature information like this in order to highlight notable landscape lighting projects around the city. For more information on the project, please check the respective websites.