21st Annual Fort Langley Cranberry Festival

A wood carving of a First Nations wolf design rests on a sign on a traffic island.

The Kwantlen Wolf Spirit Square in Fort Langley.

On Saturday it was the 21st annual Fort Langley Cranberry Festival. I’d never been before even though I’ve lived in Langley for two years, so I decided to check it out.

It was raining, so I didn’t expect a massive turnout. I was wrong. The entire street was closed off for tents with vendors, food trucks, entertainment, and, of course, cranberries. There were throngs of people (and a lot of dogs) roaming around: checking out the vendors, jamming to the music, eating food truck food, and cleaning up on cranberries. Multiple food vendors had cranberry-specific items, such as cranberry honey, and there was a huge tent from Ocean Spray where they were selling cranberries by the pound.

(All the cranberries are local, though they are shipped down to Washington for packaging, as that’s where Ocean Spray is located.)

White tents decorate a rainy, closed off street, and groups of people mill around.

The filled street and throngs of people.

I didn’t even get to see the whole festival, as my back is not back to 100% after September. I tired halfway down the street and knew I had to turn back or I wouldn’t make it home.

Foolishly I forgot to bring cash, thinking there wouldn’t be many vendors and that I didn’t need to spend any extra money anyway. Well, I don’t need to spend extra money, but there were a lot of vendors. And I should have picked up a pound of cranberries! Then I could have made cranberry sauce from scratch this year. Next year I’ll go on a shopping spree!

Musicians perform in an open-air truck-stage in front of a big yellow building with the words "Fort Langley Community Hall" on it.

The musicians performing in front of Fort Langley Community Hall (which is actually where I got married!).

Though I didn’t see all of it, Cranberry Festival is pretty amazing and I am duly impressed with it. If you are in Langley for Canadian Thanksgiving weekend next year, you should definitely come check it out!

-Katje

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