- When
- January 1, every year. Gather from about 11:30am; everyone goes in at noon.
- Where
- The beach at Brae Island Regional Park, on Bedford Channel of the Fraser River. Drive north on Glover Road through Fort Langley, over the Jacob Haldi Bridge, and the park entrance is just past the bridge on the left.
- Cost
- None that has ever been mentioned. There is no registration; you just show up.
- Organiser
- Nobody official. It was started on a whim by a Fort Langley resident and friends in 2014 and has run every New Year's Day since.
- 2027
- Nothing has been announced yet, and there usually isn't an announcement until mid-December. Watch our events page.
- Last checked
- October 23, 2026
Brae Island Regional Park, Glover Road, north of the Jacob Haldi Bridge, Fort Langley, BCMcMillan Island, across the Bedford Channel from Fort Langley (Township)
This is Langley’s polar dip, and it is about as grassroots as an event gets. No sponsor, no sign-up table, no timing chips. A crowd gathers on the little beach at Brae Island at the end of the morning, someone counts down, and at noon a hundred-odd people run into a river that has been sitting at winter temperature for weeks. Then they run back out, and everybody cheers.
How it started
The Advance Times has told the story more than once. A Fort Langley resident, Darian Kovacs, and some friends decided to go in on New Year’s Day 2014, mostly for the fun of it. It stuck. By 2025 the paper was describing hundreds of swimmers in good years, and in 2026 the organiser put the count at 100 to 150 in the water, with a lot more people on the shore to watch.
The water has been the same temperature every year, which is to say cold. The air is the variable. In 2017 the channel had iced over and had to be broken up with a shovel before anyone could get in. In 2026 it was mild, no ice, and the organiser’s verdict was that the warmer air somehow made the water feel colder.
What it looks like
Costumes are a thing. In 2026 the organiser and his son went in dressed as bananas, and the crowd included a dinosaur, a chicken and a martial arts club that swam in their gis. Nobody expects you to dress up, but plenty of people do.
The gathering happens between 11:30 and 11:45am and the swim is at noon sharp. Most people are in and out fast, towelled off and heading to the village for something hot.
What to bring
- Water shoes or old runners. It is a river beach, not a pool deck.
- A towel, a dry change of clothes and a toque for right after. Change in the car; there are washrooms near the parking lot but they are not a change room.
- Warm shoes you can get into with numb fingers.
- A friend who stays dry and holds your things.
Parking is the Brae Island lot by the entrance. With a few hundred people turning up at once, expect it to be busy; parking in the village and walking over the Jacob Haldi Bridge is the fallback.
One thing to be straight about: Metro Vancouver’s own park page says swimming at Brae Island is not recommended because of swift currents and changing water quality. The dip is a quick in-and-out at the beach, in a crowd, with people watching, and that is the only sensible way to do it. Stay close to shore, keep an eye on the kids, and stay off the log booms.
The other one
Aldergrove used to have its own Polar Bear Plunge in the outdoor pool at the community centre. The Advance Times reported in December 2025 that the Township has not brought it back since the pandemic and has no plans to, citing safety and staffing. So Fort Langley is the one.
A cold swim is not for everyone. If you have a heart condition or are unsure, talk to your doctor before you go in, and never go in alone.
Going? Send us a photo afterward and we will add it here. Submit it.
Last checked October 22, 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
