List of festivals in Canada

Festivals of Canada
External sublists
By province
By city
By type
Related topics

Canada has a long tradition of hosting festivals and events throughout the year.[1] The industry adds over $33 billion to the country's tourism economy and provides jobs for more than 229,000 people in areas like business events, trade fairs, festivals, and meetings.[2] Popular festivals include the summer's Montreal Jazz Festival and Calgary Stampede, Winterlude in Ottawa-Gatineau during the winter, and nationwide celebrations for Canada Day. Other notable festivals include the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Vancouver Pride Parade and Just For Laughs comedy festival.[3]

The following list includes festivals of diverse types, among them regional festivals, commerce festivals, fairs, food festivals, arts festivals, and recurring festivals on holidays.[4]

Sublists by locale

Province or territory

Atlantic Canada

Festival Location Province Note
Animation Festival of Halifax Halifax NS [5]
Atlantic Book Awards & Festival varies All
Atlantic Jewish Film Festival Halifax NS [6]
Atlantic Theatre Festival Wolfville NS
Bonavista Film Festival Bonavista NL [7]
Boxwood Festival & Workshop Lunenburg NS
Cape Breton International Drum Festival Cape Breton NS
Cavendish Beach Music Festival Cavendish PEI
Celtic Colours Cape Breton Island NS
Charlottetown Festival Charlottetown PEI musical theatre festival
Charlottetown Film Festival Charlottetown PEI [8]
Corner Brook Pride Film Festival Corner Brook NL LGBT film festival[9]
Devour! The Food Film Fest Wolfville NS [10]
Dutch Mason Blues Festival Truro NS in August[11]
Emerging Lens Film Festival Halifax NS [12]
Evolve Festival Jailletville NB originally taking place near Antigonish, NS
Festival Antigonish Summer Theatre Antigonish NS
FIN Atlantic Film Festival Halifax NS [13]
Great Outdoors Comedy Festival Varies Outdoor comedy festival produced by Trixstar LIVE
Halifax Black Film Festival Halifax NS [14]
Halifax Busker Festival Halifax NS
Halifax Comedy Festival Halifax NS
Halifax Fringe Festival Halifax NS
Halifax Independent Filmmakers Festival Halifax NS [15]
Halifax Jazz Festival Halifax NS
Halifax Pop Explosion Halifax NS
Halifax Pride Halifax NS
Hangashore Folk Festival Corner Brook NL
Hellifax Horror Film Festival Halifax NS [16]
Island Fringe Festival Charlottetown PEI
Lunenburg Doc Fest Lunenburg NS [17]
Nova Scotia Gaelic Mod Cape Breton Island NS
OUTeast Film Festival Halifax NS [18]
Stan Rogers Folk Festival Canso NS
Stoked for the Holidays Sydney NS
Virgin Festival Halifax NS
The Word on the Street Halifax NS
Exploits Valley Salmon Festival Grand Falls-Windsor NL
Festival 500 St. John's NL
March Hare Corner Brook NL
MusicNL NL
Nickel Film Festival NL [19]
Shakespeare by the Sea, Halifax Halifax NS
Shakespeare by the Sea, Newfoundland St. John's NL
Sheelah's Day NL
St. John's International Women's Film Festival St. John's NL [20]
Tuckamore Festival St. John's NL
Wreckhouse International Jazz & Blues Festival St. John's NL early July
YC Newfoundland NL
Acadian World Congress varies
Blues d'la Baie Petit-Rocher NB [21]
Festival international du cinéma francophone en Acadie Moncton NB [22]
Foire Brayonne Edmundston NB
Frye Festival Moncton NB
Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival Fredericton NB
HubCap Comedy Festival Moncton NB
Indigenous Film Festival Fredericton NB [23]
Le Pays de la Sagouine Bouctouche NB
New Brunswick Summer Music Festival Fredericton NB
Miramichi Folksong Festival Miramichi NB
Saint John Jewish Film Festival Saint John NB [24]
SappyFest Sackville NB
Silver Wave Film Festival Fredericton NB [25]

Territories

Festival Location Territory Note
Dead North Film Festival Yellowknife NT [26]
Folk on the Rocks Yellowknife NT
Great Northern Arts Festival NT
Rockin the Rocks NT
Yellowknife International Film Festival Yellowknife NT [27]
Nunavut International Film Festival Iqaluit NU [28]
Quviasukvik NU
Adäka Cultural Festival Whitehorse YT
Available Light Film Festival Whitehorse YT [29]
Out North Queer Film Festival Whitehorse YT [30]
Yukon International Storytelling Festival YT
Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous YT

City

Sublists by type

Festivals by size

Attendance

As of 2025[31]

  1. L'International des Feux Loto-Québec (Montreal), 3 million
  2. Montreal International Jazz Festival (Montreal), 2.5 million
  3. Winterlude (Ottawa), 1.6 million
  4. Celebration of Light (Vancouver), 1.6 million
  5. Just For Laughs (Montreal), 1.5 million
  6. Festival d'été de Québec (Quebec City), 1.5 million
  7. Ottawa Bluesfest (Ottawa), 1.3 million
  8. Nuit Blanche Toronto, 1.2 million
  9. Canadian National Exhibition (Toronto), 1.3 million
  10. Calgary Stampede, 1.2 million
  11. Toronto Caribbean Carnival, 1.2 million
  12. Pride Toronto, 1.3 million
  13. Montréal En Lumière (Montreal), 0.9 million
  14. Pacific National Exhibition (Vancouver), 0.9 million
  15. K-Days (Edmonton), 0.8 million
  16. Toronto International Film Festival, 0.5 million
  17. Quebec Winter Carnival (Quebec City), 0.5 million
  18. Folklorama (Winnipeg), 0.4 million[32]
  19. Carassauga (Mississauga), 0.3 million
  20. Festival du Voyageur (Winnipeg), 0.1 million

Economic impact

As of 2010[31]

  1. Toronto Caribbean Carnival, $470 million
  2. Calgary Stampede, $172.4 million
  3. Winterlude (Ottawa-Gatineau), $151 million
  4. Pacific National Exhibition (Vancouver), $139 million
  5. Pride Toronto, $136 million
  6. Toronto International Film Festival, $135 million
  7. Just For Laughs (Montreal), $80 million
  8. Canadian National Exhibition (Toronto), $58.6 million
  9. Celebration of Light (Vancouver), $37 million
  10. Quebec Winter Carnival, $34 million

Festivals by type

Arts festivals

Children's festivals

Comedy festivals

Cultural festivals

Dance festivals

Fairs and exhibitions

Film festivals

Main article: List of film festivals in Canada

Food festivals

Fringe festivals

Literary festivals

Music festivals

Main article: List of music festivals in Canada

See also

References

  1. ^ Marsh, James H. (1999). The Canadian Encyclopedia. The Canadian Encyclopedia. p. 883. ISBN 978-0-7710-2099-5.
  2. ^ "Canadian Events Industry Rebounds: Key Statistics Reveal Transformative Growth". Business & Industry Canada. March 13, 2025. Retrieved November 2, 2025.
  3. ^ Malhotra, Venus (June 2, 2022). "Most popular Festivals of Canada". Alliance Visas. Retrieved November 2, 2025.
  4. ^ Sawyer, Deborah C. (2009-02-16). "Festivals". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2025-12-04.
  5. ^ Jordan Parker, "Animation Festival hits cinemas in Halifax". Halifax Today, May 10, 2018.
  6. ^ "Wide range of stories at online edition of Atlantic Jewish Film Fest, Nov. 19 to 22". Halifax Chronicle-Herald, November 10, 2020.
  7. ^ Patrick Butler, "Bonavista accueille des cinéphiles au 1er festival du film terre-neuvien en région rurale". Ici Radio-Canada Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador, July 5, 2019.
  8. ^ Dave Stewart, "Movies hitting the big screen this weekend at the Charlottetown Film Festival". The Guardian, October 22, 2020.
  9. ^ Don Bradshaw, "Grenfell professor planning province's first ever pride film festival". CJON-DT, January 22, 2020.
  10. ^ "Netflix star Rosenthal to join hybrid version of Wolfville's Devour! film fest in October". Halifax Chronicle-Herald, July 15, 2020.
  11. ^ "Dutch Mason". Dutchmason.com. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
  12. ^ "Emerging Lens Cultural Film Festival celebrates 10th anniversary online". Halifax Chronicle-Herald, June 4, 2020.
  13. ^ Jordan Parker, "FIN Stream presents a different film festival medium, with same selection pedigree". Halifax Today, August 19, 2020.
  14. ^ "Fourth annual Halifax Black Film Festival wraps up African Heritage Month". Halifax Chronicle-Herald, January 30, 2020.
  15. ^ "Halifax Independent Filmmakers Festival announces eclectic online lineup Nov. 12-15". Halifax Chronicle-Herald. 2020-10-07. Archived from the original on February 8, 2021. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  16. ^ "Keeping Up With Katie Kelly: Hellifax Horror Fest". CTV News, October 11, 2020.
  17. ^ "Lunenburg Doc Fest launches expanded online program for 2020". Halifax Chronicle-Herald, September 10, 2020.
  18. ^ "Strength and authenticity at OUTeast". The Coast, June 14, 2018.
  19. ^ Wendy Rose, "The 2020 Nickel Film Festival brings virtual screenings to your living room". The Telegram, July 20, 2020.
  20. ^ Collins, Dillon (September 20, 2018). "St. John's International Women's Film Festival Unveils 29th Lineup". Newfoundland Herald. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  21. ^ "Festival Blues d'la Baie | 21 au 23 juillet 2022". Blues d’la Baie (in French). Retrieved 2022-07-17.
  22. ^ "Le Festival international du cinéma francophone en Acadie couronne ses lauréats". Ici Radio-Canada, November 21, 2019.
  23. ^ Jordan Gill, "New film festival in Fredericton to highlight Indigenous filmmakers". CBC News New Brunswick, December 22, 2019.
  24. ^ Elizabeth MacLeod, "Jewish Film Festival Offers Virtual Screenings". CHSJ-FM, October 15, 2020.
  25. ^ Lauren Bird, "Female filmmakers get spotlight at Silver Wave Film Festival". CBC News New Brunswick, October 20, 2018.
  26. ^ Brendan Burke, "Dead North: 'Mind-melting' made-in-the-North film festival kicks off tonight". Northern News Services, February 27, 2020.
  27. ^ Emelie Peacock, "Films with NWT links dominate Yellowknife Film Festival line-up". Cabin Radio, October 15, 2019.
  28. ^ Beth Brown, "Don't forget—there's an Inuktut children's film fest in Iqaluit today". Nunatsiaq News, February 24, 2018.
  29. ^ "Available Light festival to shine next week". Whitehorse Star, February 25, 2005.
  30. ^ "Movies will explore diverse gender identities". Whitehorse Star, March 22, 2016.
  31. ^ a b Buckland, Jason (2009-02-14). "8. Quebec Winter Carnival – Biggest festivals in Canada". Money.ca.msn.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-17. Retrieved 2012-07-12.
  32. ^ FreePress, Winnipeg (2013-08-20). "Folklorama attendance up a tick". Winnipeg Free Press. winnipegfreepress.com. Retrieved 2016-02-16.
  33. ^ "Naba Barsha in Bengal". Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  34. ^ "BHESA - Bengali Event Heritage". Archived from the original on 2015-07-26.
  35. ^ "TGIF Ottawa, The Great India Festival".
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Festivals of Canada.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.