Public Disco brings decade celebration festival to North Vancouver Shipyards

Public Disco, the Vancouver organization that has spent a decade throwing high-quality electronic music events in unexpected urban spaces — back alleys, under bridges, plazas — is marking the milestone with a major festival at the North Vancouver Shipyards on October 3.

The daylong event will span two stages: a main stage at The Shipyard Commons and a vinyl listening lounge in The Pipe Shop. The lineup will feature a mix of headlining DJs and producers from the U.K., New York, Detroit, and around Canada, alongside local artists.

"We landed on wanting to represent headliners who have deeply contributed to the house music and underground electronic scene as well as drive the future of it forward, and I feel we've done just that," said Elsa Sainas, Public Disco's programming director. "We also wanted to represent the local artists who make our underground community what it is and show off their talent from live visuals to all vinyl sets."

Public Disco's model of transforming unconventional spaces into dance floors, block parties, and pride celebrations draws from underground movements where modern dance culture was shaped: queer communities, Black communities, Latinx communities, and others who created spaces for freedom and joy. Over the past decade, the organization has expanded its reach from back alleys to higher-traffic areas like Granville Island and the Vancouver Art Gallery plaza.

Executive director Nickolas Collinet said the Shipyards represented a natural next step. "Anyone in the events world has been seeing the Shipyards … and kind of looking at it with a little bit of admiration as to just how vibrant and wonderful those places are," he said. "So we were really excited to have an opportunity to work with the city … to make something happen in a space that really represents the ethos of Public Disco, in terms of taking spaces and transforming them."

Collinet also noted that as the organization has grown, more attendees are coming from outside Vancouver. The North Shore location allows them to expand their reach across the metro area. "The post-industrial history of this zone, and how the city has taken it on and really been an example for the rest of the region in how to create space that is for the people … I think even the City of Vancouver has a lot to learn," he said.

Public Disco Festival is a 19+ event, running from 2 to 10 p.m. on October 3, 2026. Tickets and the full festival lineup are available at publicdiscofestival.ca.