Burnaby Blues + Roots Festival Returns to Deer Lake Park for Its 25th Year
Free Music Is Back: Burnaby Blues + Roots Festival Turns 25 at Deer Lake Park
Source: City of Burnaby
One of Metro Vancouver’s biggest free music festivals is back, and this year carries a milestone with it. The Burnaby Blues + Roots Festival celebrates its 25th year at Deer Lake Park on Saturday, August 8, 2026, with free admission for everyone. Music runs from 3:30 PM until 10 PM on the festival lawn behind the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, wrapping the evening in a mix of blues, soul, funk, indie, and Indigenous storytelling.
This Year’s Lineup
The 2026 main stage of The Burnaby Blues + Roots Festival brings together Canadian and international talent. Headlining the night is TALK, the Ottawa-born singer-songwriter behind the viral hit “Run Away to Mars,” who closes the festival from 8:30 to 10 PM. Ahead of him, the schedule builds through soul, funk, and roots:
4:00 PM TYA, an RBCxMusic First Up artist, opens the main stage
4:45 PM Wyatt C. Louis, Plains Cree singer-songwriter
5:40 PM GALACTIC featuring Jelly Joseph, the New Orleans funk collective
7:15 PM Jully Black, multi-JUNO Award-winning soul powerhouse
8:30 PM TALK, headlining to close the night
The day starts well before the main stage. From 11:30 AM to 3:15 PM, satellite stages at the neighbouring Burnaby Village Museum showcase local performers, and a community stage on the east lawn opens at 3:30 PM with emerging artists including Janky Bungag, Mikey Jose, DACEY, and Desirée Dawson.
More Than the Music
The festival has always leaned on community as much as sound. Alongside the free live music, visitors will find some of the region’s most popular food trucks, a beer garden, an artisan market, and community booths throughout the grounds. The setting stays family-friendly from afternoon into evening, with the scenic backdrop of Deer Lake giving the whole event an easy, outdoor feel that has kept people coming back for a quarter century.
- Admission is free, no tickets required
- Live music starts at 11:30 AM at Burnaby Village Museum, with the main stage running 3:30 PM to 10 PM
- Food trucks, a beer garden, and an artisan market on site
- Family-friendly, with community booths and local vendors
- No public on-site parking, accessible parking for SPARC pass holders only
- Free bike valet on site, e-bikes and scooters welcome
Getting There
Parking is the one practical detail worth planning around. The City of Burnaby does not offer public parking on site, with accessible spaces reserved for guests holding SPARC passes as space allows. Attendees are encouraged to arrive by transit, cycling, rideshare, taxi, or carpool. For those driving, off-site public parking is available at Burnaby Central Secondary, Burnaby City Hall, and the Deer Lake Centre lots, all within reach of the festival lawn.
Transit is straightforward, with the 144, 110, 123, and 133 buses stopping right outside the site and frequent connections to nearby SkyTrain stations. Anyone cycling in can use the free bike valet on site. One note for drivers nearby: Deer Lake Avenue moves to limited, one-direction access after 2 PM, with a full closure from 9 PM onward.
Deer Lake sits at the centre of one of Burnaby’s most established and connected neighbourhoods. For a clear read on the local market, reach out to Geoff Jarman.
