Yesterday we went to check out the fireworks at the HSBC Celebration of Lights. This is a yearly summer event put on by the city of Vancouver. This year, four countries are competing; Italy, China Czech Republic and Mexico. Tonight’s show was China’s.
The barge that holds the entire firework display was docked out on English Bay. Each firework display cost $250,000 and attracts up to 400,000 people to the beach. We watched the show from a friend’s 9th floor condo that offers a direct view of the barge. It’s way better than trying to grab a spot on the beach!
All the boats come out for a good firework display! How they manage to not hit each other is truly amazing to me. Police boats are also on the water to make sure no boats cross into the fireworks zone.
As the sun started to set, the crowd started to get bigger and bigger. After 8PM, the roads were cut off to traffic.
Since we had time to kill before the big show, we decided to take a walk on the beach to see what kind of mad house it would be to get a good viewing spot. This photo was taken two hours before the 10PM show. Hard to believe it would get even more packed!
China put on a really good show. Sarah’s friend, who saw Italy’s show on July 26 said China put on a much better display. I took her word for it since I didn’t see Italy. We may go back next Saturday to see the Mexico and the Celebration Finale.