ScotFestBC’s got games! Tickets on sale for BC’s annual Scottish music & cultural festival

ScotFestBC and the British Columbia Highland Games will fill Coquitlam’s Town Centre Park June 19 & 20

Coquitlam, BC – ScotFestBC and the 129^th British Columbia Highland Games will return to Coquitlam’s Town Centre Park June 19 & 20. Tickets are on sale today.

As always, the core of the weekend festival is the British Columbia Highland Games that started in BC 129 years ago – competition in bagpiping, pipe bands, drumming, highland dancing and Scottish heavy events. A Scottish and Celtic festival will wrap around that, with a weekend of Celtic music in the Big Tent, a huge whisky school, food trucks, vendors, children’s fun, and cultural workshops.

“If you are looking for something to do between soccer matches, check us out. We got games!” says Mike Chisholm, ScotFestBC executive director. “We’re just a few steps away from the end of the Skytrain line, so it could not be easier to come on out and soak in the music, food, and culture at ScotFestBC 2026.”

Things will kick off with free Friday evening entertainment on the Big Stage, plus a whisky school and the best pipers from the Pacific Northwest – a taste of the competition, food, and fun to come all-day Saturday.

The whisky school will again be on the main stage beside Lafarge Lake, with plenty of room for anyone who’d like to learn more about the wee dram from people who know. In partnership with Vancouver Island’s Macaloney Distilleries and Jaks Beer Wine & Spirits, the school has something for everyone from the beginner to the connoisseur. Tickets required.

Juno award winning Barra MacNeil’s will headline ScotFestBC’s Big Tent on Saturday – stopping off at the festival during their 40^th anniversary tour. Fan favourite The Whiskydicks and games troubadour Bob Collins are back this year, joined by ScotFestBC’s favourite folksinger Patt Chessell. There will be a lot of New Zealanders in town for soccer, so in their honour local Māori cultural dance group Te Tini A Maui will perform a welcome haka under the Big Tent Saturday afternoon. They may even be joined by some highland dancers.

Piping and pipe band competitions will start with solo events Saturday morning, followed by full band competitions in the afternoon. The RCMP E. Division Pipe Band will also perform. The massed band march will cap the highland games around 5 p.m. Saturday.

The ever popular RE/MAX Scottish Heavy Events will take place on the Lew Ross Field, while the festival will once again host a BC Highland Dancing Association open competition on the Highland dancing stage.

The Scottish cultural tent will host workshops on bagpiping, big and small; the games’ history; Highland Jacobites; and Gaelic.

Children’s activities will include games and activities for the wee ones, plus free facepainting and balloon twisting.

Early bird tickets are for sale for $25 through June 9, after which they will be $30.

Tickets are on sale at www.scotfestbc.com.

The 2026 ScotFestBC program will include:

Friday evening (4 pm – 10 pm)

Opening ceremony – 6 pm. The 78^th Fraser Highlanders along with local politicians and dignitaries will officially kick off the 129^th Games.
Big Tent Kitchen Party – 6:30 – 10 pm with Pat Chessell and The Whiskeydicks.
Whisky Mingle – fine whiskies on the main stage beside Lafarge Lake (ticket required).
Food trucks and vendors from 4 pm.
Open Piobaireachd (piping) – 5 pm. In the Cultural Tent, the very best pipers in the Pacific Northwest will compete individually.

Saturday (8 am – 10 pm)

The 129^th British Columbia Highland Games – piping, drumming, Highland dancing, and Scottish heavy events competitions. Massed pipe bands, The Barra MacNeil’s, SFU Pipe Band, cultural workshops, whisky school, children’s activities, food trucks, vendors.
British Columbia Pipers’ Association Pipe Band Championships – 2 – 5 pm in the Piper’s Competition Circle near Piper’s Glen.
Massed band (all pipe bands at the festival playing and marching in order) – 5 pm on the Lew Ross Field.
RE/MAX Scottish Heavy Events – 9 am – 4 pm on the Lew Ross Field.
The BC Highland Dance Association Open Competition – 8:30 am – 5 pm on the Highland Dancing Stage.
Celtic music in the Big Tent – 1 – 10 pm: Bob Collins, The Saltchuckers, Barra MacNeil’s.
Whisky School classes – starting 12:30 pm on the Main Stage.
Cultural workshops – starting 11 am in the workshop tent.
Food trucks and vendors – all day throughout the park.