The ultimate Burnaby summer events list

June 29, 2022

Don’t know what to do this summer? The Beacon has compiled a list of some of the best summer activities and events.

From walking trails to festivals, and so much more, this list will have you prepared with all the best Burnaby has to offer this summer.

The Burnaby Village Museum is a great place to take the whole family for a blast into the past. Plus, they have plenty of staff available to teach you all about the extensive history of Burnaby and a carousel. Entry is free but it costs $2.65 to ride the carousel.

2. Explore the Heights

There is so much to do in the Burnaby Heights neighbourhood. Check out the iconic Swinging Girl sign, grab a bite to eat at the Burnaby-famous Anton’s Pasta Bar, get a pie from Gabi and Jules, or simply take time to check out all the cool local businesses in the area.

2022 marks the first year of Opera in the Park which will feature “classics from your favourite movies including Habanera in Carmen by Georges Bizet, Nessun Dorma from Turandot by Giacomo Puccini and O Fortuna from Carmina Burana by Carl Orff.” There will also be an orchestra petting zoo, balloon twisters, face painting stations, a costume station, and various fun costumed performers walking around ready to pose for pictures. This event is free, is being held at the Deer Lake Festival Lawn on Sunday, July 17, and starts at 7:30 pm.

4. Parks

Did you know that Burnaby is home to over 150 parks? You could visit a park every day this summer and still not have seen them all. We’d recommend visiting Central Park or Byrne Creek Ravine Park for a nice summer stroll.

5. Water parks

There are plenty of water parks throughout Burnaby to take your little ones to. We’d recommend visiting the Confederation Park Water Park or the Suncrest Spray Park. Check out Burnaby’s full list of water parks here.

6. Indoor Pools

Just like all the water parks, Burnaby also has plenty of indoor pools. The Eileen Dailly Leisure Pool & Fitness Centre has an awesome pool with a beach-entry leisure pool, deep tank main pool, and more!

Burnaby Lake has a beautiful 10km loop all the way around the lake for you to enjoy. Plus, Burnaby Lake attracts all sorts of bird watchers with all the different birds that call it home. There is also a Nature House that hosts all sorts of events and has real specimens of a coyote and beaver-chewed stump, living pond creatures, children’s puzzles and discovery boxes, games and books about local wildlife, displays on local natural history, and a photo gallery of images taken by park visitors that rotates weekly.

Deer Lake Park is another great park to visit for a walk. While it’s a shorter walk than Burnaby Lake, it is just as beautiful.

Speaking of Deer Lake Park, you can rent boats and take a ride out onto the lake. You can grab a canoe, kayak, or a pedal boat. The pedal boat has a storage section where you can pack food and enjoy a nice picnic on the water.

10. Picnics

With so many different parks in Burnaby, there are plenty of great picnic spots to check out as well. Central Park has some great sitting areas for eating. You also can’t go wrong with Burnaby Mountain for a great view.

11. Burnaby Mountain

Burnaby Mountain Park is a wonderful place to get away from the city and enjoy the beautiful sunset. Plus, there are plenty of hiking and mountain biking trails around like the Sidewinder Trail or SFU Loop.

12. Bubble Tea

Burnaby is home to some of the best bubble tea shops and you have plenty to choose from like Wushiland Boba, Chatto Tea & Coffee, or Chicha San Chen.

The Beacon has created some excellent transit-friendly food tours for you to try. One takes you from Patterson to Metrotown station and the other from Metrotown to Royal Oak station. You’ll be making stops at La Forêt, Ki Cafe, Me + Crepe, and plenty more.

Learn all about the Japanese community in Burnaby and participate in all sorts of different workshops that change weekly. Plus, there’s a beautiful Japanese Canadian garden for you to enjoy.

There are plenty of Burnaby breweries for you to do on your next pub crawl. We’d recommend heading over to Dageraad Brewing to try the Burnibarian, Burnaby’s own specialty beer.

16. Patios

When the weather is nice you need to grab some friends and grab some drinks and appies on a patio. The Riverway Golf Course has a beautiful one that overlooks the golf course. But JOEY Rooftop Lounge and Dageraad Brewing are both excellent choices as well. The Beacon has a list of some of the best patios in Burnaby if you’re looking for some recommendations.

17. Brunch

Burnaby has plenty of great brunch spots, and some you might not even know about. For example, there is a cafe inside the Gardenworks on 4746 Marine Drive that serves up some delicious brunch. You can get eggs Benedict, French toast, pancakes, and plenty of coffee options. You would never expect there to be a café here.

18. Farmers’ markets

The Burnaby Farmers’ Market and Nikkei Garden Farmers’ Market are both great spots to grab some local produce and treats. The Burnaby Farmers’ Market takes place every Saturday from 10 am to 2 pm, and the Nikkei Garden Farmers’ Market takes place on the second and fourth Saturday of the month from 10 am to 2 pm. Both will offer plenty of local goods and delicious foods.

19. Golf

If you’re a fan of golf, then you’re in luck! Burnaby has courses in Central Park, on Burnaby Mountain, and in Kensington. You can visit Golf Burnaby for more information on rates and tee times.

The Blues and Roots Festival is making a comeback this year at Deer Lake Park and will have some great musical performances. Headlining the show will be The War on Drugs alongside Kathleen Edwards, The Soul Rebels, Ruby Waters, and many more! The festival takes place on August 6 and tickets start at $50.

Canada Day is on July 1 and events will be taking place all over the city. You can visit Edmonds Plaza and Park for “a fun filled day of entertainment, arts and crafts and activities for the kids, games, a youth volleyball tournament and more.” The Burnaby Village Museum will also have “free festivities including multicultural family entertainment, displays & demonstrations, children’s games & activities and, of course cupcakes” all “with the backdrop of its 1920s village streets.” You can also head over to Central Park for a StreetFest that includes “a family zone with kids’ entertainment and activities at Civic Square, activities for all ages along Central Boulevard, along with food, music, beer garden, dance, artists and free live performances in Central Park featuring performances by k-os, Bif Naked and Alex Cuba.

Whether you want to try yoga, boxing, spin classes, or salsa dancing, the Amazing Brentwood is offering it all. Each class is free but registration online is required (and you can register for them all here). Let this be the summer you try something new and exciting!

Central Park is one of the best parks in Burnaby and has plenty to do this summer. You can play volleyball, lawn bowling, horseshoes, tennis, golf, go for a swim, enjoy the spray park, work out at the fitness circuit, play on the playground, or enjoy a picnic (barbeques are allowed at the park).

Starting June 30, Sounds like Summer will feature live music performances in Burnaby parks. They take place weekly from Wednesday to Sunday with plenty of different musicians performing. You can check the City of Burnaby website for a full list of times and performers.

The Whitecaps FC2 will be playing games throughout the summer at Swangard Stadium against teams like Houston Dynamos 2 and St Louis CITY2. You can buy tickets for these games online.

Burnaby has plenty of great ice cream spots for you to cool off this summer. Glenburn Soda Fountain has some delicious and unique ice creams like their Dough Boy Sundae with cookie dough, chocolate sauce, crushed sandwich cookie pieces, cookies and cream ice cream and whipped cream with sandwich cookie and chocolate chip cookie on top to garnish. You can also look at our list of the best Burnaby ice cream spots.

27. Catch a movie

Take a break from the heat with a movie at the Cineplex VIP Cinemas in Brentwood. These 19+ theatres serve alcoholic drinks and food right to your seat in the theatre. They also have some of the comfiest seats you’ll ever sit on. Plus, on Wednesdays, they have a dinner and movie bundle. For $69 you can get two VIP tickets to any movie, one appetizer, two entrées, and one dessert.

Head over to the Brentwood Plaza for the Burnaby Summer Theatre for a free performance from up-and-coming performing artists. This year, they’ll be “exploring and celebrating our diverse community through Polar Opposites, an original theatre production for youth. This event takes place on Friday, July 15 starting at 11 am.

Fruit Beer Fest is coming to Burnaby on August 13 at Swangaard Stadium. Bring a picnic blanket and enjoy plenty of different fruity beers alongside some tasty snacks. Tickets start at $69.99 and include a souvenir drinking glass. Plus, if you save your glass and bring it next year you’ll save some money on your ticket! You can buy tickets for Fruit Beer Fest online.

Enjoy free outdoor performances at Confederation Park and Civic Square starting July 4 all the way until the end of August. Bring a picnic blanket or some lawn chairs and enjoy performances from musicians like Krystle Dos Santos, Lache Cercel, Sam Chimes, and many more!

The Burnaby Central Railway is a “unique 1/8 scale, ride-on miniature railway built and operated by the volunteers of the BC Society of Model Engineers.” The train can carry up to 20 people and goes on a 2-mile trip through tunnels, across bridges, and through the woods. This is a great family-friendly activity to do. Tickets cost $4.50 for a single ride and the railway is open on Saturday, Sunday, and on statutory holidays.

32. Tennis 

Not only does Burnaby have plenty of tennis courts in parks like Robert Burnaby and Central Park, but they also have a tennis club. You can sign up for all sorts of programs for juniors, and adults, and even take lessons to improve your game. You can check the full list of programs on their website.

Starting on Canada Day and continuing for the next three weekends is Music on the Plaza at the Brentwood Plaza. Enjoy free performances from local musicians like the Scott Verbeek Trio, the Adam Thomas Trio, and Marie Hui. The music starts at 2 pm but be sure to visit the Amazing Brentwood’s website for full details and schedules.

The largest bubble tea festival is coming to Canada, and it’s being held in Burnaby at Swangard Stadium on July 22 and 23. There will be 10 different bubble tea vendors alongside plenty of snacks to enjoy like Taiwanese chicken and BBQ. Tickets cost $10 and can be bought online.

Just like indoor pools, there are plenty of outdoor pools in Burnaby as well. If you’re looking for an outdoor pool, you can visit the Central Park outdoor pool or Robert Burnaby outdoor pool. They offer lane swimming and also drop-in swims.

This year is the 33rd anniversary of Symphony in the Park with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) and listeners are promised to be transported “to other worlds, whether it’s the gritty streets of New York (Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story), the story of an alien visitor (Adventures on Earth (Theme from E.T.) by John Williams) or one of the greatest love stories of all time (Tchaikovsky’s Romeo & Juliet – Fantasy Overture).” This is a free family-friendly activity that will be taking place at Deer Lake Park on July 16. From 2–7 pm there will be a musical zone where you can try different traditional Chinese instruments, then at 5:30 pm, you can enjoy music from VSO School of Music’s Azalea Chinese Music Ensemble. At 7 pm the main concert will start.

Visit the Brentwood Block Party on July 16, 17, August 6, 7, 26, and 27 at 2150 Alpha Avenue. There will be plenty of food trucks, market vendors, art, music, skateboarding demos, and much more. This event is free to attend and everyone is welcome. Food trucks like Crema Ice Cream, Munchu Picchu, Kyu Grill, BeaverTails, Mo Bacon, Takenaka, Jerk Shack, and many more are expected to make an appearance.

Head over to Civic Square to enjoy a free outdoor movie every Friday in August until September 2. Be sure to bring a picnic blanket or some chairs to enjoy the movie. This event starts at 8:30pm rain or shine and the movies being played this year are:

  • Friday, August 12 – Clifford the Big Red Dog

  • Friday, August 19 – Paddington 2

  • Friday, August 26 – Shaun the Sheep Movie

  • Friday, September 2 – Ron’s Gone Wrong

Also, Edmonds Park will be hosting a free outdoor movie as well. They’ll be playing The Lego Movie on Saturday, August 20.

Enjoy a classic car show at Edmonds Park on July 23 from 11 am to 3 pm. There will be a petting zoo, food vendors, rides, live music, and, of course, plenty of cars to look at.

Watch up-and-coming DJs spin it out in a DJ battle at the Brentwood Plaza on July 14 at 5 pm. This event is held in partnership with TableTutors, a Burnaby-based DJ community that provides opportunities for up-and-coming DJs. This event will feature “a live talent showcase of TableTutor’s own students, followed by a live battle with amateur DJs going head-to-head for the audience vote.”

On July 9, Burnaby Pride will be hosting a community picnic at Lobley Park from 2 to 6 pm and all community members are welcomed. This event is free to attend and Burnaby Pride encourages families and individuals to attend. There will be “music, food and fun!” You can register to attend online or just show up!

42. Burnaby Pride Celebration

Burnaby Pride is once again returning to Civic Square on July 23! There will be “a variety of live music, drag, comedy and more, along with educational booths and activities for the whole family!” Not much else has been revealed about this pride celebration yet but be sure to check the Burnaby Pride website for updates.

43. Station Square Food Tour

There are so many new restaurants in Station Square for you to check out, making it a great place to do another food tour. Whether you’re craving poke or mazesoba, Station Square has it all! Be sure to walk around and explore all the different food options.

44. Biking

Burnaby has some gorgeous spots to grab your bike and go for a ride. Whether you’re looking to do some biking in the city like along the Metrotown Bikeway or do some mountain biking up on Burnaby Mountain, there is plenty for you to explore. The City of Burnaby put together this bike map pamphlet with all sorts of different trails for you to check out.

Burnaby has a surprising amount of public art for you to enjoy. For example, at Deer Lake Park there’s plenty of public art around to enjoy like the Burnaby Millenium Sculpture Poles or Untitled Blocks. You can also take a look at this interactive map by the City of Burnaby of all the public art in Burnaby.

46. Take a walk through the Century Gardens

Nothing says summer more than a garden full of beautiful flowers, and there is no better place to look at flowers than in Burnaby’s Century Gardens. There are so many flowers that you might find yourself lost in them!

The Burnaby Art Gallery is one of the only places in Canada dedicated to art on paper and they have some beautiful art on display. The gallery “endeavours to represent a variety of techniques and practices from artists of diverse backgrounds.” They also have different exhibits all the time so you can always come back and expect something new.