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You can ride on a Ferris wheel in downtown Vancouver for free on select days this month

Kenneth Chan
Kenneth Chan
|
Dec 9 2025, 7:22 pm
You can ride on a Ferris wheel in downtown Vancouver for free on select days this month
Christmas 2025 season Ferris wheel at the north plaza of the Vancouver Art Gallery. (Kenneth Chan)

As part of the wintertime Destination Downtown Vancouver activations and programming, the temporary Ferris wheel has once again returned to the north plaza of the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Destination Downtown Vancouver — known as Liven Up during the past two winter seasons — features festive nighttime lighting installations at key locations across the downtown peninsula, along with scheduled evening fire-dance performances outside Canada Place.

While the overall Destination Downtown Vancouver programming runs throughout the winter, the Ferris wheel will only remain in place until the first week of January 2026.

The Ferris wheel is closed on Mondays, but operates on all other weekdays and weekends from the afternoon into late evening, with hours varying by day. It will not run on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, or New Year’s Day. Admission is $7 per person, with tickets available onsite.

However, every Tuesday in December 2025 (December 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30), rides are free, courtesy of Downtown Van, the local business improvement association.

vancouver sign art gallery west georgia plaza december 2025

Temporary VANCOUVER sign, Christmas tree, and Ferris wheel on the West Georgia Street plaza of the Vancouver Art Gallery, as seen on Dec. 5, 2025. (Kenneth Chan)

The Vancouver Art Gallery’s north plaza along West Georgia Street is highly activated this season, featuring the return of Vancouver’s official Christmas tree and a new temporary VANCOUVER sign.

This marks the second year in a row that a Ferris wheel has been installed at the plaza, following last year’s popular appearance during Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour finale in Vancouver. By May 2026, the city is also set to debut a new permanent VANCOUVER sign outside the entrance to Canada Place.

Just to the north, the Robson Square ice rink is also a free attraction — opening for the season through February 2026 — and the Canopy installation of 3,000 colourful LED lights suspended above the Robson Square plaza has also returned for its third consecutive winter season.

Downtown Vancouver Ferris wheel Christmas 2025

When: Dec. 2, 2025 to Jan. 3, 2026
Time: Mondays, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day — closed; Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays — 3 to 9 p.m.; Fridays — 3 to 10 p.m.; Saturdays — noon to 10 p.m.; Sundays — noon to 8 p.m.; Boxing Day — 3 to 10 p.m.; New Year’s Eve — 3 to 8 p.m.
Where: North Plaza (West Georgia Street) of the Vancouver Art Gallery
Cost: $7 ride per person; tickets available on site. Free rides on Tuesdays in December 2025 (December 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30).

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