There are a lot of beautiful dining rooms in Vancouver, but this time of year none can compete with BC’s many naturally spectacular outdoor settings. From long table dinners to more casual al fresco events, we’ve compiled a list of six memorable opportunities to enjoy eating outside this summer. Let’s all go to the farm!

ARAXI IN MT CURRIE | Every summer, food and wine aficionados flock to Pemberton’s North Arm Farm for Araxi resaturant’s amazing Longtable Dinner Series. Mount Currie serves as the backdrop for this epic four-course meal. Keep careful watch on their event page (here) for the official announcement and all of the delicious details.

OUTSTANDING IN THE FOREST | Swallow Tail is hosting a forest dinner in July that sounds like a good adventure: Chef Robin Kort will harvest ingredients from the lake, forest and meadows of the Malcolm Knapp forest; then dine under the stars with a dinner cooked using her bounty! “From wild mushrooms to conifer tips to Labrador tea and cattail shoots, you will be amazed at the delicacies that we can weave into your family-style dinner under the forest canopy. Guests will be invited to harvest a few key ingredients for their meal before dinner during their foraging class. We’ll be eating the trees truly!” Tickets to the Outstanding in the Forest dinner will run you $130 per person for a pre-dinner foraging class and the entire meal, including a welome cocktail. This event is coming up fast and will require some planning, so hustle over to Swallow Tail’s website and score your seat ASAP here.

UBC FARM LONG TABLE | Feel like you’ve spent an evening in the country without even leaving the city at the UBC Farm Long Table Dinner, happening on July 21st. In this case, the ‘long table’ is actually two rows of white-tablecloth-ed elongated tables, stretching from one end of the well-shaded Poplar Grove to the other. The evening begins with hors d’oeuvres and sparkling wine, followed by a family-style multi-course meal composed of local, seasonal ingredients, and designed to highlight the incredible wealth of organic produce cultivated right at the UBC Farm. (Guests are also offered a guided farm tour to see where it all happens.) As the daylight fades, lights hung between the branches of the trees emanate a magical aura, lending perfectly to the idyllic, escapist atmosphere we mentioned earlier… Tickets go on sale here beginning this Friday, June 23rd at noon – mark your calendars so you don’t miss out!

SOURCED | From May to September, Okanagan food enthusiast and founder of The Paisley Notebook, Aman Dosanj, hosts a series of intimate, down-to-earth, and thought-provoking pop-up dinners that are not just designed to feed people good food, but also to bring communities together and to introduce people to flavours, customs and stories of different cultures through the food on their plate. Dinners are hosted at unique locations that allow diners the chance to get intimately acquainted with exactly where the ingredients for their meal come from. The series is (appropriately) called ‘Sourced’, and the concept is one that we respect. There are two dinners coming up on this year’s tour: July 9 at Kalala Organic Estate Winery in West Kelowna, and August 6 at Green Croft Gardens in Grindrod. Tickets are $160 per person (plus GST), including the entire beverage-paired dinner. Space is limited and early bookings are recommended. Due to the nature of pop-up events, tickets are non-refundable but transferable. Email [email protected] to book.

FEAST OF FIELDS | Not a long table event, but still outside: Score some tickets to the 28th annual FarmFolk CityFolk Feast of Fields events before they’re all gone! First up, on September 10th, Farm Folk City Folk will present their super delicious annual fundraising event out at Stable Harvest Farm in Langley. The four-hour-long day of grazing, meandering and mingling with local producers is always seriously good times. Plus the money raised goes to Farm Folk City Folk and their continued efforts to connect local farmers and food producers with local chefs, which is good for everyone! Secure your spot here. If mid-September sees you heading out the Okanagan way, you can also join the September 17th feast at Priest Creek Family Estate Winery in Kelowna by scooping up tickets here.

FARMHOUSE FEST NATURAL WINE FAIR | | Fans of funky wines will be pleased to know that the 7th Farmhouse Fest is tacking on an extra day dedicated to exploring the world of natural wine on Sunday, August 13th – the first year ever that the popular ales and cider fest at UBC Farm will be tackling natural wine. The bottle selection is being curated by the good people at Dachi, Hānai and Juice Bar – think funky, fruity, complex and experimental vintages from local faves A Sunday in August, Averill Creek, Bella Wines, Home Wine, Keenan & Zoe, Thorn & Burrow, Pamplemousse Jus, Rigour and Whimsy, Sage Hills, Scout, and Ursa Major, along with some special imports. The event’s all-star team is rounded out by Bar Susu, who will be helping out with the production experience. Pouring begins at noon and stops at 5pm. Tickets ($141.18 each, including tax and fee) for the inaugural Natural Wine Fair are still available here – but we doubt for much longer! You know what to do.

Did we miss a long table dinner worth checking out this summer? Let us know in the comments below.