Sunfest Country Music Festival

Sunfest is Vancouver Island's biggest country music festival and one of the largest country events in Western Canada, taking over Laketown Ranch just outside Lake Cowichan for four days at the end of July. Set on a sprawling riverside ranch ringed by forest and mountains, the festival pairs a massive main stage with on-site camping, turning the long weekend into a full country getaway rather than a single concert. Tens of thousands of fans arrive with tents, trailers and lawn chairs to see a lineup that regularly mixes chart-topping Nashville headliners with the best of Canadian country.

Beyond the music, Sunfest has the feel of a summer village: food trucks and vendors, licensed areas, dancing, and warm Cowichan Valley evenings that stretch late into the night. Days are for cooling off — Cowichan Lake and the river are minutes away — and nights are for singing along under the stars. Its location in the heart of the Cowichan Valley makes it an easy add-on to a wine-country or lake weekend, and the campground atmosphere is famously friendly and family-inclusive. If you are planning a trip around it, book accommodation or camping early: Sunfest weekend is one of the busiest of the year in the region, and nearby Duncan, Lake Cowichan and the surrounding wineries and restaurants fill up fast.