BC Nature Festivals
Seasonal festivals and wildlife events in British Columbia — tied to the same ecological rhythms this calendar tracks.
Brackendale Winter Eagle Count
Community science count surveying wintering bald eagles along 40 miles of the Squamish River corridor — one of the highest eagle concentrations in North America.
Pacific Herring Spawn
Millions of Pacific herring coat the eelgrass beds in milky white off eastern Vancouver Island, drawing massive concentrations of eagles, sea lions, and whales to one of BC's most spectacular wildlife events.
HerringFest
A community festival on Hornby Island celebrating Pacific herring conservation through art, film, music, and Indigenous teachings, timed to the spring spawning in Lambert Channel.
Pacific Rim Whale Festival
A week-long festival in Tofino and Ucluelet celebrating the northward grey whale migration through Clayoquot Sound, with shore spotting, Indigenous cultural programming, science talks, and the closing Baleen Bash concert.
Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival
Three weeks of hanami across Vancouver's 40,000+ flowering cherry trees, with the Big Picnic, Sakura Days Japan Fair, guided tree walks, and the festival's 20th anniversary edition in 2026.
Brant Wildlife Festival
Annual festival celebrating the spring migration of Black Brant sea geese through the Strait of Georgia, with guided walks, a wildlife carving show, and family events in Parksville and Qualicum Beach.
Bamfield Fungus Festival
Two-day mycology festival in a remote rainforest village on Barkley Sound — guided forest walks, expert lectures, and mushroom dyeing demonstrations at the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre.
Salute to the Sockeye
The dominant sockeye run at Adams River — one of the world's great wildlife spectacles, with hundreds of thousands of bright-red salmon spawning in Tsútswecw Provincial Park, occurring every four years.
Whistler Fungus Among Us
Guided mountain forays, mushroom identification workshops, and expert presentations during peak fall fungal fruiting season in the Coast Mountains.
Tofino Winter Nights
Community winter festival on the outer coast during peak storm-watching season — lights, music, the Hot Cocoa Trail, and North Pacific swells on Long Beach.