Every summer Vancouver hosts the Celebration of Light - four nights of fireworks over a two week period. All the stops are pulled as different national teams compete for the honour of the most spectacular and most entertaining display of the summer. Crowds converge on beaches, balconies and even mountain tops around Vancouver in anticipation of the first boom of fireworks at 10pm. Motorboats, cruise ships, and yachts are among the watercraft that converge on English Bay to witness nature's display of fading light be superceded by bright festivities in the darkening sky.We watched our first show with my parents from the rocks in West Vancouver. The hard seats and distant view encouraged us to seek out better vantage points. M's company has spoilt us twice with dinner cruises. It is always a treat to be dined, wined and waited on while you are ferried around English Bay, albeit on a rather rickety tired boat. But rickety boat or not, it's a great vantage point watching the fireworks from right in the bay. The chocolate fountain dessert afterwards is also not too shabby.
M's company entertained us twice in one summer to salmon barbeques on a grassy verge near Kitsilano Beach. After the barbeque we'd set up our garden chairs and picnic blanket, pull out a game with friends and entertain ourselves while we waited for the sun to set and the fireworks to begin. Not a bad vantage point either. The only problem with both the dinner cruises and the salmon barbeques is the congested water and road traffic immediately after the display. Add at least an hour on to your evening trying to get home.
Every Vancouverite has to do two things to be counted a true Vancouverite - one is to survive Grouse Grind, even just once, and the other is to go to the West End to watch the fireworks up close. One year we did just that. We took the seabus across on a Saturday night and positioned ourselves just off the beach on the sidewalk with a good view of the fireworks barge in English Bay. Even more than an hour before the kickoff the beach was full - but with each minute that passed, the beach filled to overflowing, the crowds pressed in closer, personal space became a moot point, and the mood was heightened by anticipation and BC weed.
With the first crack, sizzle and boom of fireworks, the crowd is mesmerised by the display. There is something fantastical when you are close enough to feel as though you will be swept up into the fireworks. After the display, you are swept up in the crowds making their way through the streets. It's to be experienced at least once - and only once.
Last night we got to enjoy the first of the four summer explosions. This time there were no crowds, no entertainment or salmon BBQs and no traffic jams trying to get home. We watched in our pyjamas, with brushed teeth and washed faces. We oohed and aahed and listened to the accompanying music on the radio. At the end, in the dark, we heard clapping from other balconies and clapped too. Our commute was as long as it took to come inside and pad the 21 steps to bed.
Lest you think that we are too dull and boring in our mid-life years - our favourite fireworks evening by far was last summer. We had friends over for dessert and chocolate port after Rita had spoilt us all to dinner at her place - just two blocks away. Lest anyone think the evening was over once the fireworks were done, M threw on the ABBA CD, the coffee table was moved and a party broke out. We had a whale of a time dancing and grooving. M even tried some new breakdancing moves. Thankfully our closest neighbour is old and hard of hearing.
