Vancouver’s Celebration of Light is an annual musical fireworks competition that occurs every year in the city. It’s large, globally renowned, and attracts people from around the world. Couple this with the Vancouver Pride Parade & Festival and you have one of the busiest tourist weeks in Vancouver. It was so busy that we had to leave the city for the August long weekend because there were no vacancies in any hotel (one of the drawbacks of living out of a hotel).
That was fine with us… because we had a wonderful weekend in San Diego and still had the opportunity to see the Brazil and Vietnam light shows during the week.
On show nights, the city shuts down Davie Street. At first, I thought this a little extreme; however, after seeing how many people head to English Bay / False Creek, and how many people try to get out after the show, this was a sanity saver. I remember seeing one or two motorists try to be “smart” and ignore (or not see) the street closed signs… those poor motorists were not only stuck for hours, but pedestrians along Davie were not very forgiving.
My post is 5-months overdue… but in honour of New Years and fireworks celebrations around the world, here are select video clips from the Celebration of Light Brazil show and the Vietnam show and crowds. In the Vietnam video, you can see the flow of people on Davie from our 12th-floor hotel room.
Happy New Year to Sharlene, Chris, and Niña.