2023 Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival: Main Event Day

Join us for the Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival, a Vancouver favourite! The main festival day, September 23rd, features a Harvest Fair, Twilight Lantern Procession, and Streamside Lantern Installation. No registration is required for these free events. The Moon Festival is an annual community arts and sustainability festival with free events throughout September, celebrating the full moon, harvest abundance, diverse cultural traditions, the natural environment of Renfrew-Collingwood, and its community. Check out our main festival website for other Moon Festival events scheduled throughout September.

• 4:00 PM - Sunset (7:10 PM) at Slocan Park
• A jam-packed afternoon of music, workshops, performances, games and food!

• Sunset (7:10 PM) - 7:30 PM starting from Slocan Park and ending at Renfrew Community Park
• Walk with colourful figures and performers among surprising sounds and sights along the route of streams buried beneath the Renfrew-Collingwood neighbourhood. The procession leads from the Harvest Fair to the Streamside Lantern Installation.

• 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM at Renfrew Community Park
• Lantern installations, projections, and live performers will light up Renfrew Community Park.

• Date: Saturday, September 23rd
• Time: 4:00 PM - Sunset (7:10 PM)
• Location: Slocan Park2750 E 29th Ave, Vancouver, BC V5R 1V5

The Harvest Fair is a free outdoor event that will showcase local musicians, performers, artists, and family-friendly activities. Join us for a workshop, enjoy the Harvest Soup and don't miss the popular vegetable competition which celebrates the neighbourhood's most impressive homegrown produce.

Enjoy our diverse lineup of live music and performances. Visit our Artist Page to learn more about the talented individuals and groups we are proud to feature this year.

• Opening Ceremony
• Indigenous Women Rise Society
• Roots Peruvian Folk Dance
• Tiddley Cove Morris Dancers & Musicians
• Tamami Maitland Trio
• Tobias Macfarlane
• Closing Remarks

Enjoy a bowl of Harvest Soup made by Collingwood Food Justice. Pastries from local bakeries as well as refreshments will be on sale, and food trucks will be on site.

It’s not always about the biggest – how about the cutest, longest, or quirkiest-looking vegetable? If you have a vegetable garden, think of what special vegetable you’d like to enter in this year’s Vegetable Competition!

Participate in an eco-arts workshop, all run by local artists with a passion for the environment. These drop-in workshops are all by donation to help cover the costs. Suggested donation $5.

• Horse Chestnut + Morning Glory Keychains with : 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM. Turn regionally-invasive Horse Chestnut into a small keychain/charm twined together with Morning Glory vine while learning about the impacts of these common plants and their identification. Horse Chestnut cuttings have been harvested from felled street tree branches, with Morning Glory gathered from local restoration sites.
• Meditative Candle Dipping with : 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM. Come learn how to make a simple hand-dipped beeswax candle while doing a relaxing walking meditation. Beeswax, wicks, and other materials required to make candles will all be provided.
• Painting Jewelry Dishes with the : 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM. Come paint and relax with us! You’ll be able to bring home your own painted handmade clay dish made by the Still Moon Youth committee. We will be providing the clay dishes and paints/paintbrushes to use, and will be selling pre-painted dishes at the event as well.
• Monoprinting with Invasive Plants with : 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM. Learn about local invasive plants such as Creeping Buttercup, Tansy, English Ivy, and Knotweed and how to easily transfer their textures and shapes onto paper, taking home a unique after-image print. As a water-based medium, monoprinting pays homage to the local freshwater systems, connecting the plants used to their source of life. The work allows for this interrelationship to continue in their re-lifing as art.

• Community Data Tree: A Public Awareness Art Project with : 4:00 PM - 7:10 PM. The Data Visualization Tree allows community members to co-create art while artistically visualizing data points to explore our diverse Renfrew-Collingwood community, and share what they hope to see in the neighbourhood. This artwork requires community members to add strings, messages of hope or resilience, and braided ribbons to symbolize different forms of feedback. This is a project that supports the efforts of the BC Government towards the Anti-Racism Data Act. The Systems Change team from Collingwood Neighbourhood House will also promote a survey to gather feedback from equity-seeking communities. Participation is free and materials will be provided.
• The Walk of The Woods by : Starts at 5:00 PM, come at 4:00 PM if you don't have a costume. The Walk of the Woods procession, a collaboration between Runaway Moon Theatre and Still Moon Arts Society, will bring together the For the Love of Trees workshop participants with other Harvest Fair -goers. In the words of Runaway Moon, “Keep your ears to the ground. We are getting to know the trees in this area through a number of art opportunities, community workshops, and unexpected appearances. How well do you know cottonwood, birch, Western Red Cedar, Trembling Aspen, Hemlock? Which tree would you be if you were a tree? Through this project you will be able to find out what it’s like - to be a tree!”. You'll be glad to join in the “stumping” fun!

Chat with various local organizations and businesses to stay informed about Renfrew-Collingwood and beyond.

• Slocan Park is a one-minute walk from 29th Avenue Skytrain Station and bus loop.
• Bus numbers #16, 29, 33 take you to 29th Avenue Station. Limited street parking is available.
• We recommend walking, taking the bus, riding your bike, or carpooling when possible.

• Slocan Park is an outdoor park that can be accessed from a partially paved and partially grassed pathway, adjacent to 29th Ave; wheelchairs may have a difficult time traversing the grass should extreme weather occur. Chairs and gender-universal washrooms are available on-site. Please do not hesitate to inquire about any additional accessibility needs.

This event takes place on the unceded territories of xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

• Date: Saturday, September 23rd
• Time: Sunset (7:10 PM)
• Location: Starting from Slocan Park2750 E 29th Ave, Vancouver, and ending at Renfrew Community Park

At twilight, stilt performers, giant puppets, and attendees alike will embark from Slocan Park. Honouring the streams buried beneath the Renfrew-Collingwood neighbourhood, the parade will culminate at Renfrew Community Park, leading directly into the Streamside Lantern installations. Feel free to take a stop by the Renfrew Ravine Labyrinth along the way, and enjoy musical accompaniment by Salalaul.

The event will happen rain or shine. Make sure to dress for the weather, and don't forget to bring your lanterns!

Want to make your own lantern to carry in the Procession? Check out our cyanotype, free-form or electronic LED lantern-making workshops happening earlier in the month.

If you are interested in walking the Labyrinth, please follow proper etiquette as shown here.

• The start of the parade route (Slocan Park) is a one minute walk from 29th Avenue Skytrain Station and bus loop.
• Bus numbers #16, 29, 33 take you to 29th Avenue Station. Limited street parking is available.
• We recommend walking, taking the bus, riding your bike, or carpooling when possible.

• The walk is ~1.1 kilometres and involves approximately 15 minutes of walking on paved roads. There will be chairs available for those who need them at both Slocan and Renfrew Community Park. Gender-universal washrooms are available at both locations. Please inquire if you have concerns of any kind.

This event takes place on the unceded territories of xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

• Date: Saturday, September 23rd
• Time: 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM
• Location: Renfrew Community Park

Taking place after Harvest Fair and the Twilight Lantern Procession, the Streamside Lantern Installation is the sacred heart of the Moon Festival. Nestled amongst the towering trees, this evening spectacle welcomes walking guests through a transformed Renfrew Community Park, decorated with 1000+ lantern installations of diverse concepts and shapes. Enchanting live performers and musicians accompany the soothing sounds and sites of the ravine.

• Streamside Lantern Installation Artists: This year, we are proud to feature a diverse group of artists, performers, and community members, working in various mediums: Willoughby Arévalo, Ari Lazer, Naomi Singer, Gamelan Turtle Bliss, Tobias Macfarlane, Andrew Tuline, Polymer Dance, Toni-Leah Yake, ivy hazard, Eclipse Galloway, Nicole Parekh, Ann K Chou, Joe Boyd, Pili & Yumeng, Kick Off the Truck Collective, Lady Zenaida Escobedo, Nickie Lewis, and Windermere Leadership Classes. You can learn more about them on our Artists Page.
• acknowledges that they will be performing Snewíyalh tl'a Staḵw (Teachings of the Water) music by T. Patrick Carrabré, Squamish words contributed by Rebecca Duncan.
• Prayers for the Water: Write a prayer for the water and let it sail high above the branches.
• Tea Garden Concession: Enjoy tasty treats and a cup of tea while learning more about Still Moon Arts Society.

There are three entry points into the Streamside Installation. Please see the Moon Festival Site Map for details.

• Entry 1 is down a set of stairs on the west side of the Renfrew Park Community Centre.
• Entry 2 is through the Renfrew Community Park field and is wheelchair accessible – you can access it from Nootka St at E 20th Ave.
• Entry 3 is from the parking lot on Renfrew St at E 21st Ave, there is a set of stairs.

• The Renfrew Community Park has a wheelchair accessible dirt path leading down to the forest area; use of Renfrew Community Centre washrooms requires stairs unless assisted by a volunteer. Please inquire if you have concerns of any kind.

This event takes place on the unceded territories of xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Slocan Park & Renfrew Community Park, Slocan Park & Renfrew Community Park, Vancouver, Canada