2025 Clayoquot Salmon Festival: Protect, Educate, Celebrate.
11th ANNUAL FESTIVAL EVENT SCHEDULE HIGHLIGHTS
Salmon Fest Kickoff Concert featuring Caleb Hart with Sonic Alley, Cabin Fever, & Sangria
Friends of Clayoquot Sound and Tuff City Radio present Caleb Hart’s new band Sonic Alley, along with DJ sets by Cabin Fever and Sangria to kickoff the Festival with a night of celebration and dancing outside.
Friday, August 29
The Village Green
Free Event, 6-10PM
Upstream Shakedown Party featuring Nesto, Parab Poet, & Friends
Continuing the fun night of music featuring Nesto and Parab Poet – 2 upbeat DJs whose raw energy will keep you moving and grooving co-presented by Friends of Clayoquot Sound and Tofino Tea Party.
Friday, August 29
The Maq
$5 @ the Door, 10PM-1AM
Salmon Forest Big Tree Trailbuilding & Restoration Excursion
Join Tla-o-qui-aht Tribal Parks and Friends of Clayoquot Sound to build and restore the iconic Big Tree Trail on Meares Island and learn about the local ancient salmon forest ecosystem. There is limited space for this special excursion so registration is required.
Saturday, August 30
Big Tree Trail on Meares Island
Free Event, 10AM-3PM
Family Fun Beach Day Sand Castle Competition with Music & Beach Clean
Tuff City Radio is organizing a fun day on the beach building sand castles. You can celebrate Clayoquot Salmon Festival by helping us build a big salmon or cleaning the beach with a silent disco headset. There’ll be food vendors, music, and prizes for the best sand castles and most marine debris collected.
Sunday, August 31
Cox Bay
Free Event, 9AM-5PM
Spawn Til Dawn Dance Party featuring Tofino Tea Party
Friends of Clayoquot Sound team up with The Maq and local legends Tofino Tea Party to bring you a fun evening of the most funky selections. And for your get down, it’s all free!
Sunday, August 31
The Maq
Free Event, 9PM-12AM
Salmon Printmaking Workshop
Come learn from Tla-o-qui-aht artist Ivy Cargill-Martin 1pm-4pm to design, carve, print your very own salmon. Create a print or card for the love of salmon. Supplies are provided and this workshop is for all levels of experience. Space is limited so registration is required.
Monday, September 1
Tofino Community Hall, Multi-Purpose Room
Free Event, 1PM-4PM
Voices for Salmon, Tla-o-qui-aht Cultural Group
Witness the Tla-o-qui-aht Cultural Group sharing songs, stories, and dances about salmon, their interconnected role in a healthy ecosystem, and important perspectives on salmon protection and solidarity.
Monday, September 1
Anchor Park Totem Pole
Free Event, 7-8:30PM
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About the 2025 Clayoquot Salmon Festival:
Salmon play an integral role for coastal livelihoods, cultures, and ecosystems in Clayoquot Sound. And they lead incredible lives, starting in freshwater then migrating to the ocean. Salmon stay at sea for years before their homing instincts guide them back, to the freshwater systems they were conceived in, to reproduce. Celebrating this magnificent species that provides that backbone of this coast is what inspires Friends of Clayoquot Sound to organize the annual Clayoquot Salmon Festival and this marks the 11th Annual!
From August 29 - September 1 there will be a variety of events, with something for everyone. The Clayoquot Salmon Festival is timed to coincide with the return of the salmon for spawning on the west coast. Anyone who has witnessed salmon hurling themselves upriver and over obstacles during the spawn knows their tenacious and inspiring drive to give life to the next generation. The Festival always prioritizes celebrating the salmon return together as a community with creative spirit. For the 11th Annual Clayoquot Salmon Festival, we have an awesome lineup of music including Sonic Alley (Caleb Hart’s new band), Nesto, Parab Poet, Sangria, Tofino Tea Party, and definitely a couple surprises.
Clayoquot Salmon Festival aims to offer residents and visitors an opportunity to reflect upon, and build an active appreciation for, the irreplaceable value of salmon in Clayoquot Sound. Salmon are essential to protecting a way of life rooted in the Pacific northwest environment, which is why salmon protection is a central theme for the Festival. Register for our special excursion with Tla-o-qui-aht Tribal Parks at the Big Tree Trail. Come learn about the salmon forest ecosystems and throw down for some trailbuilding and restoring.
At least 137 different species depend on the marine-rich nutrients that wild salmon provide. As a keystone species, salmon support coastal life including orcas, bears, wolves, and eagles while providing nutrients to the ancient rainforests of the Pacific Northwest. Celebrate your love of salmon by creating your own salmon print during a workshop Ivy Cargill-Martin.
Salmon are also under significant stress in the environment from climate change and water pollutants from industry. As a coastal community, it’s critical for us to protect salmon by keeping the ocean and local beaches clean. At the Beach Day and Sand Castle Building Competition hosted by Tuff City Radio, you can help build a big salmon and participate in our beach clean. Shoutout to all the local businesses providing prizes for the best sand creations, as well as the most marine debris collected.
Indigenous Nations continue to lead society in upholding a vibrant, life-sustaining relationship with salmon. In 2024, Ahousaht and Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation introduced conservancies, nearly doubling the protected forest area of Clayoquot Sound to over 60%. These remaining intact salmon watersheds are composed of free-flowing rivers and dense forests that shelter clean drinking water for Tofino and absorb global carbon emissions, helping to guard against the most severe impacts of climate change to us humans, salmon, and all life. The ancient salmon-forest ecosystems of Clayoquot Sound and across the west coast need to be protected. On September 1, at Voices for Salmon, Tla-o-qui-aht Cultural Group will share songs, stories, and dances about salmon, their interconnected role in a healthy ecosystem, and important perspectives on salmon protection and solidarity. This is not to be missed!
Thanks to the District of Tofino, contributing organizations, and all the sponsoring businesses. To stay up to date about events and location specifics, please check the Festival website www.focs.ca/salmonfestival or Clayoquot Salmon Festival on Facebook. And to volunteer for the Clayoquot Salmon Festival contact the organizers at
c2FsbW9uZmVzdGl2YWwgfCBmb2NzICEgY2E= or (250)725-4218.
See you there!
Also check out other Festivals in Tofino, Entertainment events in Tofino, Parties in Tofino.
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