Labour Day long weekend arrives in Maple Ridge on the Saturday before and runs through the Monday holiday, marking the unofficial end of summer. The headline event is easy to spot: Our Neck of the Woods, the city’s largest music festival, shuts down blocks of the Downtown Core around Memorial Peace Park for a free, car-free street party running 2pm to 10pm.
This guide covers what the city has confirmed so far for the 2026 festival, the practical details for getting there and parking, and how to round out the rest of the long weekend with camping, markets, and the outdoors, since Maple Ridge does not shut down once the last band finishes its set.
Our Neck of the Woods: Maple Ridge’s Biggest Street Party
Our Neck of the Woods is confirmed to return on Saturday, September 5, 2026, taking over Memorial Peace Park and the surrounding blocks of the Downtown Core. The official event page lists the date and venue as locked in, with free admission and the site closed to cars for the day. Expect the same basic format the festival has used each year: a live music stage, a vendor and makers market, food trucks, and a dedicated kids zone spread across the park and the closed-off streets around it.
The festival started in 2024 as the centrepiece of Maple Ridge’s 150th anniversary celebrations, then grew into a full day of programming in 2025. Last year’s edition ran from 2pm to 10:30pm across two stages, with an all-ages licensed zone requiring ID to buy or drink alcohol, food trucks, a zipline over McIntosh Avenue, and a headline set that you can read about in our recap of last year’s festival lineup.
The 2026 lineup is now out, and it is a strong one. The Golden Ears Stage hosts Tim and The Glory Boys at 5:20pm, Bedouin Soundclash at 7pm, and Dear Rouge closing the night at 9pm, following the Indigenous Welcome at 5:15pm. The Alouette Stage keeps the afternoon moving with Elise LeBlanc, Janky Bungag, Antonio Larosa, and Emmett Jerome, and the bandstand opens the day at 2pm with The Keys to Connection, followed by Walking Together with Katzie First Nation featuring Rain Pierre at 2:30. The city has also confirmed the hours, 2pm to 10pm, and added a ticketed option for those who want it: a 19-plus VIP Outpost Social Corner at the northeast end of Memorial Peace Park, 50 dollars plus GST and a service fee now that the mid-August early-bird window has closed.
Parking, Transit, and What to Bring
Because downtown streets close to traffic, parking near Memorial Peace Park is limited. The city points to underground parking at the Business Centre, reachable through the entrance off Dewdney Trunk Road or from Edge Street by the bus loop. Walking, cycling, and transit are the easier options, and in past years the city has run a free bike valet near City Hall for anyone riding in.
The site is built to be family-friendly, with accessible seating reserved on a first-come, first-served basis near the bandstand for guests who need it, plus one accompanying guest. Blankets are welcome on the grass, but lawn chairs are not permitted inside the event site. Bikes, scooters, and skateboards are allowed on site, but only if they are parked at the bike valet rather than ridden through the crowd.
A few rules have carried over from previous years: no outside alcohol, no drones, and no weapons anywhere on site. In past years the licensed zones themselves have welcomed all ages, with ID required to buy or drink alcohol there. The event takes place on the traditional territories of the Katzie and Kwantlen First Nations.
Beyond the Festival: Camping, Markets, and the Rest of the Weekend
If Our Neck of the Woods is only Saturday’s plan, Golden Ears Provincial Park is the obvious way to fill the other two days. It is one of the busiest camping destinations near Metro Vancouver, and because Labour Day falls on a Monday, BC Parks requires a minimum three-night stay over the long weekend, booking Friday, Saturday, and Sunday together. Reservations open three months ahead of the arrival date, so sites for the long weekend become bookable in early June and tend to go quickly. Our Golden Ears Provincial Park guide breaks down the three campgrounds and which one suits your trip. If you are heading up for the day rather than camping, note that BC Parks requires free day-use vehicle passes for Golden Ears’ main lots through September 7, 2026, long weekend included: passes become bookable online two days before your visit at 7am, and are not required for arrivals after 3:30pm.
If camping is not in the cards, Memorial Peace Park has its own regular Saturday tradition running alongside the festival calendar: the Haney Farmers’ Market, open from 9am to 2pm through the end of October. Since the festival takes over the same park, expect the market to shift off its usual footprint the way it did in 2025, when it moved indoors to Haney Place Mall for the day. Confirm the plan on the market’s own channels before you go, and our guide to Maple Ridge’s farmers markets has the rundown on where else to shop local over the long weekend.
Monday itself tends to be the quiet day. Municipal Hall closes for the holiday, while the Maple Ridge Leisure Centre runs 6am to 9pm on the stat holiday, and the city counts Labour Day as a Value Day with 50 percent off drop-in admissions, which makes it a good day for a swim, a low-key hike, a lake, or simply sleeping in before the drive back to routine on Tuesday.
Labour Day Long Weekend at a Glance
Between the festival, the campgrounds, and the farmers market, there is enough going on this long weekend to fill three days without much planning. Here is the short version: Saturday is Our Neck of the Woods from 2pm to 10pm downtown, with the full 2026 lineup published on the city’s official event page. Sunday and Monday belong to Golden Ears, if camping or a day-use pass is part of the plan, with the farmers market picking back up at Memorial Peace Park once the festival packs up.
Why Maple Ridge Throws This Party
Our Neck of the Woods did not start out as an annual tradition. The city built it in 2024 as the centrepiece of Maple Ridge’s 150th anniversary, and it worked well enough that council brought it back in 2025 with a bigger production, including licensed zones, a zipline, and a full concert lineup.
The 2025 edition cost the city roughly $350,000 to run, offset by about $120,000 in sponsorships and more than $100,000 combined in liquor and merchandise sales. As of late 2025, council was still deciding whether to fund the festival as a permanent annual line item going forward, but a city survey found that 98 percent of respondents wanted it to continue, which is a big part of why it is back for a third year this September.
Our Tips for the Weekend
The full performance schedule, from the 2pm bandstand opener to Dear Rouge’s 9pm close, is locked in on the city’s event page, so plan your Saturday around the sets that matter to you rather than wandering into them.
If a Golden Ears camping trip is part of your plan, act as soon as the three-month booking window opens. The long weekend fills the calendar across Metro Vancouver every year, and with a three-night minimum required around a Monday holiday, waiting too long usually means no sites left.
For the festival itself, leave the folding chair at home and bring a blanket instead, and budget extra time for parking or plan to walk, bike, or take transit in. In past years the licensed zones have welcomed all ages, with ID required to buy alcohol, and the event overall is built for families, strollers included.
Questions Often Asked
When exactly is Labour Day long weekend in Maple Ridge?
The long weekend runs from the Saturday before through the Monday holiday. Labour Day itself is always the first Monday of September.
Is Our Neck of the Woods free to attend?
General admission is free, with the festival running 2pm to 10pm at Memorial Peace Park and the Downtown Core. There is also a paid 19-plus VIP area, the Outpost Social Corner, at about 50 dollars plus GST and fees. Licensed zones have historically welcomed all ages but require ID to buy or drink alcohol, and any food or market purchases are separate costs.
Who is performing at Our Neck of the Woods?
Dear Rouge, Bedouin Soundclash, and Tim and The Glory Boys headline the Golden Ears Stage, with Emmett Jerome, Antonio Larosa, Elise LeBlanc, and Janky Bungag on the Alouette Stage, plus bandstand performances with Katzie First Nation featuring Rain Pierre. Dear Rouge closes the night at 9pm.
Where should I park for the festival?
Downtown parking is limited once the streets close. The city points to underground parking at the Business Centre, with entrances off Dewdney Trunk Road and Edge Street by the bus loop, but walking, biking, or taking transit is easier than driving in.
