Futureproof Festival by BC + AI
A week-long gathering where the big wide AI community comes together... artists and engineers, educators and ethicists, filmmakers and founders. Vancouver. October 25-31, 2026.
Most AI conversations want you to pick a side. Boosters or doomers. All in or all out. We're not doing that. We walk forward with both hands full — critique in one hand, curiosity in the other. That's what makes this week different.
This is hosted by BC + AI, but it's for everyone. Come from Toronto, Montreal, New York, LA, San Francisco, Seattle wherever you are. Vancouver's building something different here, and we want you to be part of it.
There is a latent need. You need to understand. You need to be part of and have a voice in what's happening to all of us. This isn't just for AI professionals — it's for teachers who can't normally attend conferences, for doctors wondering what AI means for their practice, for citizens who want a voice in policy decisions. A festival welcomes people in where a conference might not.
Futureproof Festival Week Overview:
Sunday: Opening Party
Monday: Education + Youth Day
Tuesday: Life Sciences + DFRAG Creative AI
Wednesday: Hackathon + Expo + Job Fair + Community Meetup
Thursday: Mind, AI & Consciousness + DFRAG
Friday: Ethics Design Jam + Artist Reception
Saturday: Film Festival + Squatchies Awards + Closing
Where's the human-centric fork in all this? Where can you go to make sense of AI as it relates to your life ... not just your work, but your kids' education, your healthcare, your community?
That's what this week is for.
Presented by BC + AI
BC + AI is a nonprofit ecosystem association serving British Columbia's AI community. We're not a conference company or a VC-backed accelerator... we're a community that decided to organize itself.
Since 2023, we've hosted hundreds of meetups across Vancouver, Surrey, Squamish, and the Comox Valley. We've grown to 300 members. We've launched special interest groups for film, ethics, education, life sciences, creative AI, and machine consciousness. We've built the infrastructure for the AI conversations that matter... the ones where artists and engineers actually talk to each other.
Futureproof Festival is the natural next step: a full week that brings together everything we've been building.
The Five Tracks (Summary)
Film: The Second Annual BC + AI Film Festival, culminating in the Squatchie Awards for excellence in AI-assisted filmmaking.
Ethics: The AEFL Summit, featuring a participatory Design Jam where community members work alongside policymakers to shape AI governance.
Education: A full day of workshops, youth programming, and the AI Upgrade certification pathway for educators.
MAC: Mind, AI & Consciousness. Where philosophers, researchers, and creators explore the frontier of machine intelligence.
Life Sciences: The intersection of biotech, computational biology, and AI in healthcare.
FAQs
When is Futureproof Festival? October 25-31, 2026. Opening party Sunday evening, programming Monday through Saturday, closing party Saturday night.
Where is it? Vancouver, BC. Multiple venues across the city — details to be announced.
Who is this for? Everyone whose life is being transformed by AI. That includes AI professionals, but also teachers, healthcare workers, artists, students, and curious citizens who want a voice in what's happening.
How much are tickets? Pricing to be announced. Day passes and full-week passes will be available. BC + AI members get a significant discount.
Who is presenting this? BC + AI, the nonprofit ecosystem association serving British Columbia's AI community.
Can I speak or present? Programming is being developed by our track leads. If you have something to share, reach out to the relevant track.
Can my company sponsor? Yes. We're looking for sponsors who understand that the best investment in AI is investing in the community building it. Contact us for details.