The Soda Fest 2026 is on Sunday, Sept. 13 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Sapperton Park. Hosted by the Sapperton Business Collective, in partnership with the City of New Westminster, Heartberry Soda and City to Suburb Realty, the event will feature craft sodas from B.C.-based businesses in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island.

Attendees will get a tasting cup for sampling a variety of sodas and non-alcoholic beverages.

“They could buy whatever they sampled and liked,” Gladman said of last year’s event. “We had some live music and some games for people to play. It was really fun.”

Alex Jopson, who is the collective’s president and one of the founders of Another Beer Company, which was founded and located in New West until it closed in September 2024, dreamed up the idea of a soda festival.

“Craft soda particularly is becoming more of a thing in Canada,” Gladman said. “[Alex Jopson] started having conversations with different craft soda companies and thought, ‘I don’t think anyone is doing a soda festival. I’ve never heard of that before.’”