Everything you're wondering about.

No. Futureproof Festival of AI is the Vancouver event presented by the BC + AI Ecosystem Association, October 28-30, 2026 at the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre. It is not the U.S. wealth-management Future Proof Festival.

People whose decisions shape what comes next: executives, senior professionals, and decision-makers working out what AI means for their organizations, their creative practice, and the people they serve. That means founders and company leaders, studio heads and artists, CTOs and researchers, public servants, educators, and community leaders, together. You don't need to work in AI to belong here, and you don't need to have made up your mind about it. 2026 is deliberately small, which means you'll actually meet people, more than once.

Honest ground truth about how AI is actually changing work, culture, creativity, and public life. No vendor keynotes, no hype reel. The program favours people showing real work over people selling a roadmap, and the three-day festival is small enough that the conversations keep going in the hallway. If you leave with a sharper read on what's real and a handful of people you didn't know before, it worked.

Future edition details will be shared after they are confirmed. Right now we are focused on October 28-30, 2026 in Vancouver.

The 2026 festival brings opening night and two program days together at H.R. MacMillan Space Centre. The format gives people repeated chances to meet, compare notes, and carry questions beyond the festival.

One pass, all three days: opening night on October 28, the full program on October 29 and 30, and the closing party. There is no separate closing ticket and there are no single-day passes. If it is on the festival program, your pass opens it.

The public Festival Pass is CA$950 and covers all three days: opening night, both program days, and the closing party. The price carries the venue, the production crew, and the performance programming that a lot of events sell back to you as an add-on. Active BC + AI members receive 25% off at checkout.

The Festival Pass covers opening night Oct 28 and program days Oct 29–30. There are no single-day passes.

No. Futureproof Festival 2026 is an in-person event at H.R. MacMillan Space Centre in Vancouver; there is no virtual attendance option for the 2026 festival.

The Festival Pass is CA$950, and it is the only public pass. Promotional pricing ended August 22, 2026. Active BC + AI members receive 25% off at checkout. Tickets are available at luma.com/futureproof-festival.

Active BC + AI members receive 25% off, applied at checkout rather than through a code posted here. Membership itself is handled by BC + AI at bc-ai.ca. If you are already a member and the discount is not showing up, email hello@bc-ai.ca before you buy rather than paying full price and asking us to fix it after.

Yes, CA$250 for all three days, and it is the same festival everyone else is at. There is no student button at checkout: email hello@bc-ai.ca from the address you want the pass issued to, and bring a valid student ID to registration. That is the whole check.

Prices are in CAD. No separate tax or checkout fee is added to the price shown on Luma. Checkout is handled on Luma.

After purchase, the Luma confirmation email links to the QR ticket. The ticket is also available when signed in to Luma, in the Luma app, or in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. At check-in, staff can scan the QR code or look up the attendee by name.

Futureproof Festival of AI is all ages. Attendees under 13 must be accompanied by an adult. Children under 6 must be supervised by an adult at all times. Alcohol service is 19+ only.

Full refund until August 22, 2026. 50% refund August 23 through August 31, 2026. Transfers only from September 1, 2026 onward. Transfer requests are accepted from September 1 through October 27, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific. The original purchaser must email hello@bc-ai.ca from the purchase email address with the recipient's full name and email. The organizer will reissue the pass without a fee, and the recipient must complete registration. For a same-person name or email correction, update your Luma profile. Checkout is handled on Luma. Full terms are on the terms page.

Full refund until August 22, 2026. 50% refund August 23 through August 31, 2026. Transfers only from September 1, 2026 onward. Transfer requests are accepted from September 1 through October 27, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific. The original purchaser must email hello@bc-ai.ca from the purchase email address with the recipient's full name and email. The organizer will reissue the pass without a fee, and the recipient must complete registration. Book the parts of the trip you can change. Flights, places to stay, and getting from YVR to Vanier Park are on the travel page.

No. The 2026 Call for Talks closed on August 15 after 119 submissions. We read every proposal, and every person who pitched gets a personal answer.

We are building the volunteer plan now. Tell us what you are good at and when you are available. If there is a fit, the team will confirm the role, timing, support, and what participation includes before you commit.

Yes. The opening-night creative AI live set features artists performing with AI as their instrument, from generative visuals to live-coded sound. The closing party carries that energy into Friday night. Both are included with every Festival Pass.

No. The Startup Exhibitor Package includes access for its named passholders to opt in through the private follow-up intake, and other registered attendees may opt in as capacity allows. We make human introductions. We cannot promise a seat, a match, an investment, a job, or a company. Contact details are shared only after both people request an introduction and permit sharing.

Yes, on both program days. Breakfast is served on site Thursday and Friday morning, there is coffee service through the breaks, and lunch is together in the building. Opening night and the closing party both carry food. Menus go in the attendee guide closer to the date. The venue sits in Vanier Park with Kitsilano's cafes and restaurants close by if you want something else.

H.R. MacMillan Space Centre, 1100 Chestnut St in Vanier Park. The #2 and #32 buses stop nearby, False Creek Ferries dock right at Vanier Park, and it's an easy walk or ride over from Granville Island. From the airport, budget about 35 to 45 minutes by Canada Line plus a short connection, or a direct rideshare.

We're holding a festival room block at the Sylvia Hotel, a Vancouver classic on English Bay about 10 minutes from Vanier Park, with group rates from $259/night plus tax. Call 604.681.9321 and mention "Futureproof Festival." The block is held until September 28, 2026; after that, standard rates and availability apply. Kitsilano / Granville Island, Downtown / Coal Harbour, and Mount Pleasant are the most useful neighbourhoods, and the /travel page breaks them down: Granville Island Hotel is the closest characterful option, Pan Pacific anchors downtown, and Sandman Signature Olympic Village is a solid value pick.

We're designing optional workshops and paid experiences around the festival dates, some before and some after, and we'll post them when they're locked in. Beyond that, if you have an extra day: the Seawall through Stanley Park is one of the great urban park experiences on the continent, Granville Island Public Market is a 10-minute ferry from downtown, Squamish or Whistler is a 90-minute drive north if you want mountains, and the UBC Museum of Anthropology is essential if you're interested in Indigenous culture.

The festival is anchored at H.R. MacMillan Space Centre, and the venue's public information lists accessible entry and accessible washrooms. We will publish seating, room routing, and mobility notes closer to the festival. Email kk@bc-ai.ca with specific needs before the festival so routing, seating, and support can be planned around you.

Live captioning is planned for the main-stage sessions. If you have specific accessibility needs, email kk@bc-ai.ca before the event.

Yes. See /code-of-conduct. It covers all festival spaces, evening events, and online spaces. It applies equally to everyone in the room: ticket holders, speakers, sponsors, and organizers.

The regular Vancouver AI Meetup at H.R. MacMillan Space Centre runs on its own monthly schedule. The May 27, 2026 meetup opened festival registration; the October festival still runs as its own Oct 28-30 program.

Yes. Group pricing is available for teams of five or more on the same booking; it's handled directly rather than through a public code. Email hello@bc-ai.ca with how many passes you need and who they are for, and we'll sort you out. One piece of advice from running these before: teams get more out of it when they split up during the day and compare notes at night, rather than moving through the festival as a block.

No visa required. US citizens need only a valid passport to enter Canada. Other nationalities: check the IRCC website for your country's eTA or visa requirements. Most Western countries enter visa-free or with a quick online eTA ($7 CAD).

Cool and overcast, occasionally rainy. Typical Pacific Northwest fall. Expect 8–14°C (46–57°F) during the day. Bring layers and a waterproof jacket. It's rarely cold enough for a heavy coat, but an umbrella or rain shell is essential.

Seattle: ~3-hour drive or 45 min to Bellingham + shuttle. San Francisco: ~2.5-hour direct flight. Toronto: ~5-hour direct flight. New York: ~6-hour direct flight. London: ~9.5-hour direct flight. YVR is well-connected and easy to get in and out of.

The /press page carries the press kit: speaker graphics, copy-paste blurbs and links, boilerplate, dates, venue facts, and selected images. For interviews or anything the kit doesn't cover, email kk@bc-ai.ca with your outlet and angle.

Email the partnerships crew at kk@bc-ai.ca or use the sponsor form on /sponsors. Presenting, Anchor, and Supporting Sponsor packages are open for the 2026 festival, and we will build custom pieces once we know what you need.

The CA$2,000 package includes two full Festival Passes, a demo table and two chairs on Thursday and Friday, standard power and event Wi-Fi, a linked profile on the site, a promotion kit of festival artwork you can reuse, and co-founder matchmaking access. Inquiries are open at /startup-exhibitors; purchases are final and non-refundable.