A number of Car Free Day street festivals take place in Vancouver each summer including one on Commercial Drive between Venables and Grandview.
The street party on Commercial Drive used to take place in July. In 2022, however, the event was on September 10th (but just between 1st Avenue and Grandview instead of from Venables). In 2023 the Commercial Drive Car Free Day event returned on September 9th and in 2024 it’s on Sunday, September 8th (which is the weekend after the Labour Day Holiday).
Car Free Day on Commercial Drive
Commercial Drive Car Free Day is one of a number of Car Free Day events in the Lower Mainland. Also taking place within the City of Vancouver most years include ones on Main Street and Denman Street. There are more in other parts of the Lower Mainland including in Port Coquitlam, Surrey, New Westminster as just a few examples.
Time and Location
Up until 2016 Commercial Drive Car Free Day was always on Father’s Day in June, the same day as the Main Street Car Free Day event. Since 2017, however, the Commercial Drive event happens later in the summer.
In 2023 the Commercial Drive event happened between 12:00 pm and 7:00 pm on Saturday, September 9th. In 2024 the event is on Sunday, September 8th.
Car Free Day on Commercial Drive takes place, as you might guess, on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive. It used to run (pre-pandemic) along the 15 or so blocks between Grandview Highway and Venables Street. This past year, though, it was just between Grandview Highway and First Avenue. In 2023 it probably was back up to its pre-pandemic size.
Getting to the Festival
As the festival emphasizes the importance of environmental awareness, try to visit the festival car free. There are many transit options very close to the festival including bus and SkyTrain routes.
Consult the TransLink website for exact transit scheduling.
About the Festival
The Commercial Drive event is Vancouver’s original Car Free Day event. It first took place in 2005. It’s an environmentally-friendly event where pedestrians retake the street and celebrate life without their cars.
Food trucks, vendors of all kinds and display tables from local businesses and community organizations line the street at Commercial Drive’s Car Free Day. There are street performers, musicians, beer gardens and tens of thousands of people most years.
The event is very family-friendly, with activities for children as well as adults. There are often games of road hockey and the young ones are welcome to play.
At the Car Free Day event in 2022 there were booths hosted by political organizations (because of the municipal elections in October) as well as lots of different non-profit groups. At the time of writing this article, 2023 event details were to be confirmed.
Also lining the street last year were information booths for companies like Vancouver Mysteries and Forbidden Vancouver. The first is an outdoor adventure game company where you and your friends can be detectives, secret agents or superheroes. The other is a great walking tour company. These and other businesses had information about their services and prizes to give away.
Car Free Day Video
To give you an idea of what to expect at Car Free Day on Commercial Drive, check out the following video. It shows scenes of the event from 2022.
As you’ll see in the video below, on Car Free Day the street is full of people walking in the middle of the road. There are also a few characters in costume and lots of vendors and community organization information booths. At the event there are musicians at various spots along the street and games to play. You can win prizes, shop and learn about the neighbourhood at this and other Vancouver Car Free Day events.
Other Information
To learn more about this event, see the Vancouver Car Free Day website.
To learn more about the area, see our article about Commercial Drive.
Another similar event on the same street earlier in the summer is Italian Day on the Drive. It normally happens in June and it too is a massive street party.
For details about similar Car Free Day events see our articles about the events on Main Street and Denman Street, or the events in Port Moody, Port Coquitlam and Surrey. For information about Car Free Day events in North Vancouver, New Westminster and other areas, click Lower Mainland Car Free Days.
To see a list of other major events throughout the year, check out the Festivals & Events Calendar.
