Vancouver International Fireworks Safety & Fun
Tips for a Safe, Enjoyable and Worry-Free Time at the Show
Jun 4, 2009
The HSBC Celebration of Light International Fireworks Competition hosted in Vancouver, BC, Canada every summer is a breathtaking spectacle of sound and light. Now that the summer is here, and the competition is drawing near, viewing this spectacular event is definitely on the To-Do list for travelers to Vancouver, but visitors need to know certain facts if they want the experience to be pleasant.
Schedule for the 2009 HSBC Celebration of Light
- Wednesday, July 22: Canada
- Saturday, July 25: S. Africa
- Wednesday, July 29: U.K.
- Saturday, August 1: China
The best places to view the fireworks are:
English Bay, Kitsilano, Vanier Park, Jericho Beach.
A little patience, courtesy and humour go a long way to smoothing away difficulties and irritations at the festival, but here's some advice which is common knowledge to the city's residents:
- The crowds are intense. Think in terms of hundreds of thousands, possibly over a million people stretched over miles of space — any spot from where the fireworks can be seen.
- It can be a real trick to not only get to and from the site, but even around the area where the fireworks are happening. The entire west section of Vancouver's West End and much of Kitsilano is cordoned off for the show.
- There are no restroom facilities available anywhere. Businesses can't handle that many people needing to use their restrooms, so they close them to the public. They still offer food and drink for sale, however.
- The darkness and vast hordes can make the event a nightmare for parents of children who like to roam.
Even so, with precautions and planning, the event can still be fun. Here's some things to consider:
Getting To & From the Fireworks Festival
The Fireworks take place on English Bay at the mouth of False Creek. They can be seen from the south shore of Stanley Park, over the Burrard Street Bridge (which is closed for the event), and along the Kitsilano shore. There are few wheelchair friendly facilities.
The show starts at twilight, but it's best to get downtown around 6:30-7 pm, or the trek to find a place to watch may take extra miles.
Ease of access and enjoyment depends on where, in Vancouver or the lower mainland, you are situated. Much of Vancouver's West End is closed indeterminately to everything but foot traffic as the evening begins. Automobile traffic comes to a halt until the streets are cleared of pedestrians. Pedestrians get irate at vehicles which try to plough through. Be patient or, better yet, if coming into the West End or Kitsilano from an outlying area, take the train or the bus.
Everyone gets off the Skytrain at Burrard Station. If they are lucky, they can hop on one of the buses which will carry them down Robson Street, where they get off at Denman Street and walk to English Bay. Before doing that, however, be sure to pre-purchase a return ticket (cash only, from uniformed Vancouver Transport officials at the table-kiosk set up for this purpose.) This is very important! It will cut a large amount of time off the return trip.
The walk is long, but there will be random performances, and spontaneous happenings of public art along the way to amuse and entertain. Last summer (2008), the Gaia Community displayed a highly ornamented VW beetle. This may be an annual happening, but it's novel for visitors. A caroeira club performed on a sidestreet, and some guy with a guitar sang The Proclaimers "I Would Walk Five Hundred Miles " (and everyone knew exactly how he felt.)
Dealing with the Crowds of People around English Bay and Kitsilano
There are hundreds of thousands of people in attendance.
- Parents: do set up a meeting place and other contingencies with children in case of accidental separation. When it gets dark, a child could be only a few yards away and lost. Consider carefully where to view the fireworks. Move to areas where there is less traffic, farther from the stage. The fireworks are visible from many locations.
- Beaches and bridges will be packed. Stake a spot early in the evening, or be prepared to scatter the party across whatever patch of real estate can be found. Even though the hosts ask people not to, and even though it's a fireworks contest and not Gallipoli, some will persist in excavating trenches into the sand, so bring a flashlight and walk with care.
- The crowds get pushy, and pickpockets are around, so avoid bringing valuables or extra cash. Fights can break out, but there are police patrols around and SWAT teams stationed on important lookouts. Don't duck into dark alleys to avoid the crowds.
- The drug problem in Vancouver is real, so forget the idea of wandering barefoot in the sand. Wear good footwear. There may be things buried in that sand which can cause a lot of grief.
- Don't bring a lot of heavy or bulky things because they will have to be schlepped back quite a distance. A padded waterproof groundsheet is all that's really needed.
Enjoy all the wonder and beauty which fireworks choreographed to inspirational music can provide. The entertainment is ephemeral , but competitors spend millions of dollars on their entries, and the results are beautiful and invariably unusual.
Getting Home by Train after the Evening Festitivites
Visitors who came by skytrain will face The Long March back to the station ... ... during which there will be no available public facilities, anywhere. For this reason alone, it's probably a good idea to have given the beer garden a miss.
There may be strange and wondrous things to behold on the way back, like the lovely costumes and international clothes that people wear: colourful yutakas and kimonos, saris, and steampunk attire. The line ups of those waiting to use the train at Burrard Station are scary, at least 14-people wide and several blocks long. This is when a pre-purchased return ticket pays off. It is best to be patient and let the crowd inch along. Eventually the line has moved and the street has cleared, and it's still summer. This may even happen before the sun comes up.
Enjoy!
 |
 |
 |
 |
