Your ultimate guide to Vancouver's epic pickle festival

Canada’s largest pickle festival is coming to Vancouver next month, and we’ve got the details on everything you should get excited about.

Pickles: what was once relegated to a garnish tucked beside a club sandwich or, at best, sliced and thrown atop a Chicago-style hot dog has, in recent years, ascended to a level of stardom achieved by few other preserves. Even olives could only dream of achieving the main character status that pickles have of late.

They have become so popular over the past several years, in fact, that Vancouver (and Toronto) has its very own festival dedicated entirely to these sometimes sweet, sometimes sour, salty, briny delicacies, and it’s coming up sooner than you think.

Taking over City Centre Artist Lodge at 2111 Main St. and brought to us by Henderson Brewing Co. for one day only, Picklefest — Canada’s biggest pickle festival — is happening this September, spreading the scent of pickle juice far and wide across the city.

Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s upcoming festival, which pledges to be the most dill-icious event of the year.

What to expect

The festival runs on Sept. 6 and promises to be a full spectacle of brine-based delights.

Described by Henderson Brewing co-founder Adin Wener as “a cultural phenomenon that celebrates the diverse tapestry of flavours that pickling brings to the culinary world,” the festivities include a bustling marketplace comprised of dozens of vendors serving pickles by the jar, on a stick, and other pickle-inspired eats and beverages.

That’ll be paired with plenty of live entertainment, pickle-themed paraphernalia, and the star of the show, the festival’s annual home pickling contest, where an elite group of amateur picklers will walk away with cash prizes and infinite glory for their fermented food creations.

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Vendors

The festival features dozens of local vendors, from independent pickle makers to restaurants and more, serving up their best pickle-based treats, plus some non-pickle offerings. But only some.

Among the Vancouver restaurants making appearances at this year’s Picklefest, you’ll find the Mount Pleasant Vintage & Provisions serving up some pickle shots (as well as other tasty offerings), North Vancouver’s Chop and Chew, and even the Canadian burger chain Vera’s Burger Shack.

Speaking of, a slew of local pickle companies will also be in attendance, serving up their own distinct variations. This includes Hobbs Pickles, which you may recognize as serving one of the best pickles that musician Harry Styles has ever had. Other pickle purveyors include BC Brine, Preserved Canning, Mandi Mickles, I’m Pickled, Lil Pickle Food Truck, and many more.

You’ll also be able to expect some unique pickle creations, including pickle beer and a pickle hot dog stand courtesy of Superflux, and pickle ice cream from Rain or Shine.

That’s just a small sample of all the vendors you’ll be able to get a taste of at Vancouver Picklefest 2025. Here’s the complete vendor lineup to start activating your appetite:

• Solly Soda
• Embers Hong Kong BBQ
• Dank Mart
• Kuhne Pickles
• Gimjang Fermentation
• A Bread Affair
• Portland Pickles
• Holy Duck Chili
• Hobbs Pickles
• BC Brine
• Elman’s
• Preserved Canning
• Mandi Mickles
• Ugly Potters
• Lindeman’s
• Gladstone Hot Sauce
• I’m Pickled
• Mount Pleasant Vintage & Provisions
• Superflux 
• Lil Pickle Food Truck
• Dundarave Olive Company
• Dan’s Doodles
• Tin Lizzy
• Rain or Shine Ice Cream
• Vera’s Burger Shack
• Chop & Chew
• Tempea Natural Foods
• Fraser Valley Cider
• La Mezcaleria
• Cinco Drink Co.
• Bad Mash Café on Wheels
• iPop Pickleball

Contests

Aside from all the epic eats, the annual Show Us Your Pickle home pickling contest is one of the festival’s biggest draws year after year.

Amateur pickle-makers are invited to enter their creations for consideration in one of six categories: Best Dill Pickle, Best Kosher Pickle, Best Sour Pickle, Best Spicy Pickle, Most Creative Lacto-Fermented Pickle, and Most Creative Vinegar Pickle, and they’ll be judged in the four categories of flavour, texture, appearance, and creativity.

For the Vancouver festival, the creator of the top pickle in each category will walk away with a cash prize of $250, on top of some major bragging rights, while the best pickle overall will win $500.

If you think you have what it takes to create one of Vancouver’s top pickles, you can enter the contest yourself. All it takes is a registration fee of $30 per category (a maximum of two categories per contestant), which also covers a one-day ticket to the festival.

Home picklers who plan to enter their creations in the contest must drop their jars off at Superflux Brewery Co. between Aug. 22 and Sept. 3, and the winners will be announced at the festival.

Picklefest Vancouver

When: Sept. 6, 2025
Time: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Where: City Centre Artist Lodge — 2111 Main St., Vancouver
Admission: $28.27, kids under 12 free

Dished is a proud community partner for Picklefest Vancouver 2025

With files from Phoebe Knight and Marco Ovies

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