Canada rejoins Celebration of Light
Display by domestic contestant opens annual fireworks competition on July 27

Doris Sun
Vancouver Sun

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

VANCOUVER - Canada will again be a contender at this year's Celebration of Light fireworks show, after a one-year hiatus from the event.

Organizers announced in a press conference Monday that Canada will be the first country to present its fireworks display this year. The event is set for July 27 at 10 p.m. over English Bay.

Other participants include Sweden, last year's winner, which performs July 30, and China, which performs Aug. 3. A grand finale with displays from all three countries takes place Aug. 6.

This is the fifth year the fireworks show will be presented by the non-profit Vancouver Fireworks Festival Society. The event will be put on in partnership with corporate sponsors such as HSBC Bank Canada, BC Hydro, Telus and Harmony Airways.

Vancouver Sun publisher Dennis Skulsky, chairman of the society, said the fireworks are an exciting civic event.

"The fireworks in Vancouver continue to be the highlight of the summer, supported by significant crowds -- I mean, it's one of those affairs that's free, family, and it's all about all the right things."

Public safety will be a key concern at this year's fireworks, as 1.5 million people are expected to attend over the four nights.

Bob Alexander of the B.C. Ambulance Service said the service will collaborate with the Vancouver police and fire departments, the coast guard, lifeguards and St. John's Ambulance to deal with emergencies.

The agencies will be situated in Kitsilano, the West End and on the water, in case they're needed.

Paul Blunt of Transport Canada said the agency will be conducting safety checks on passenger boats to ensure navigation lights are functioning and life jackets are available.

Commercial vessels will be checked to ensure they adhere to safety standards.

Const. Bob Underhill of RCMP headquarters said there will be street closures to protect spectators.

"The street closures go into effect at about 7 p.m. and then the extra patrols that are required for that keep the streets safe for the public."

Skulsky said a portion of the funds required to put on the show is raised through the Firefighters Fireworks Boot Campaign, which collects public donations in large yellow boots.

"By contributing to the Fireworks Boot Campaign, the public has a direct way to ensure that the fireworks continue in Vancouver, along with supporting the good works of the firefighters' charity society."

Funds are split between the fireworks society and the Vancouver Fire Fighters Charitable Society. Al Gregory, secretarytreasurer of the firefighters' society, is hoping to raise a total of $100,000 this year.

dsun@png.canwest.com
© The Vancouver Sun 2005

that's soo awesome! i wish that i could be able to afford to get over to the mainland to see the fireworks. that would be sooo amazing! i've never seen them before in person. the biggest fireworks that i've seen were in victoria during canada day and those weren't the greatest in the world.

It better not rain

if it does, it does. it still would be fun.

Take lots of pics for me :)

http://img336.imageshack.us/img336/6603/northvan14ud.jpg

I'd love to see the Canada fireworks this year synchronised with Olympic music, afterall we're the host city of 2010.

Canada makes up for 2003 let-down
An estimated 300,000 fans use imaginative ways to stake their territory before jazzy show

Jennifer Miller
Vancouver Sun

Thursday, July 28, 2005

VANCOUVER - The Canadian fireworks team made a triumphant return to the HSBC Celebration of Light with a breathtaking, jazzy display that seduced the estimated crowd of 300,000 at Vancouver beaches Wednesday night.

The show had the crowd swaying to swinging, energetic music and twirling comets, then mesmerized with a sky full of golden sparkles. The crowd was wowed with shooting stars that dipped down before shooting back up into the sky.

There were no serious police incidents although officers seized various quantities of alcohol and made several arrests for public drunkenness, said Const. Howard Chow of the Vancouver Police.

A number of children were also separated from their families, but all were reunited by police, he said.

"It's been very well-behaved tonight," he said.

Canada's display -- titled "Jazz in the sky" -- exploded to an all-jazz soundtrack with classics such as At Last by Etta James and What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong.

The Canadian team, led by designer Michel Rioux, last competed in the Vancouver festival in 2003 when computer problems and a damaged fuse led to a delay in the music and hundreds of shells that didn't go off. But the team came back from the disappointment with a first-place win in the Quebec City competition last year.

Spectators have come up with some unique and interesting ways of marking their territory of sand and helping their friends find them when they arrive at the bustling beaches.

Perimeters marked with lines of seaweed, tiki torches and yellow plastic tape staked into the sand mark off the plots of sand that couples, families and groups of friends claimed hours before the shimmering show was set to begin.

Dean Johnson, 18, arrived at English Bay at 11 a.m. Wednesday to claim a front row seat for himself and about 30 friends who had to work during the day. With the help of one friend he set up a makeshift fence about six metres wide by three metres deep using sticks, rolled up newspapers and pieces of plastic.

"Whatever we could get our hands on, basically," he said.

Brent Sadowick, 18, is trying something new this year -- he came down to the beach at 10 a.m. and set up a tent to provide some shade and stake out a spot for the 16 friends that arrived as the day wore on.

"It's the perfect day for fireworks," he said.

Wednesday's sunny, warm weather brought thousands of people to the beach hours before Canada's sparkling display to swim, sunbathe and throw frisbees.

Emon Aldridge, 57, booked the day off work and arrived at the beach around 2:30 p.m. to set up his large, blue tarp and the big Canadian flag he planted in the sand. He has been to the fireworks every year since they began 15 years ago and uses the flag so friends can find the spot as they arrive at the swarming beach after work. People who set up near him use the flag to find their way back from bathroom breaks and food runs, he said.

"It is totally free entertainment . . . and it's family-oriented," he said of the HSBC Celebration of Light fireworks competition.

The other countries in the competition this year are Sweden and China. Sweden is next up on Saturday evening with music by Ulf Soderberg of ABBA.

jmiller@png.canwest.com
© The Vancouver Sun 2005

The "Canada" show was brilliant last night. I was down at sunset beach and bar none, one of the better light displays I've seen in a while.

Bring it on, China and Sweden!

Caught some of it on a webcam:

http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/9554/fireworkscopy0eg.jpg

They werent the best...I remember last years being a lot better. I watched them from the top of a building on Bute & Davie, so the view was pretty good, but I couldnt see many of the low ones, which is what most of the show was based on people have been telling me.

Its amazing how many people are still walking to the beach while the show is almost ready to wrap up. Just herds of people...how can that many people be so late??

One thing I found interesting was the volume of air traffic overhead...I counted up to 15 planes circling very high in the sky. That would be a sweet place to watch from.

I love the closing comment too...something along the lines of...Show the world your world class Vancouver, pick up your garbage and leave without causing a scene. haha. They are really promoting that world-class image here, its good to see. And by the looks of it we're growing up, there were no major incidents lastnight for a change.

I agree - they weren't that exciting.
The jazz music was too subdued - the show dragged on - plus the irritating habit of the Canada team to repeat identical configurations and colours in succession (for say, 6 repeats) was irritating.
Many of the low barge-mounted fireworks failed - there were lots of gaps in what should have been a rows of lights on the barge. This happened for a number of the low presentations, of which there were more than usual - maybe 6 sets of barge-mounted fireworks
The colours were not spectacular. The larger displays - like the music - was subdued - primarily using gold as the colour rather than a brighter mix of colour.

The show used to start at 10:30 pm a few years ago - they've bumped it up since then - so people probably don't know the start time.

I thought the show was really good.

I was trapped in prison last night but I will be there on Saturday for Sweden.

The weather must had been pretty nice ...

http://img160.imageshack.us/img160/3884/2934824630ed3b8b54b3gq.jpg

http://img160.imageshack.us/img160/3701/29248004ff5d7e6a4cb1zd.jpg

credit: realaword

nice!

Photothread from Nutterbug SSP:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?threadid=82928

In the second of the two pics above you can see the freighter carrying two more huge container cranes for the Port of Vancouver - the two orange ones. They'll pass under the Lions Gate tomorrow.

Sorry, no pics, but I WAS THERE watching from Jericho Beach. Canada's display this year is FAR better than the one in 2003, which I watched from English Bay.

Sorry, no pics, but I WAS THERE watching from Jericho Beach. Canada's display this year is FAR better than the one in 2003, which I watched from English Bay.

well yeah, considering that Canada 2003 was full of flaws caused by a computer freeze. Fireworks were still exploding 20 seconds after the show ended.

Sweden's fireworks set bar for China's team
An energetic soundtrack coupled with vivid colour wins the crowd

Jennifer Miller
Vancouver Sun

August 2, 2005


VANCOUVER - The fireworks team from China will have to pull out all the stops Wednesday night if it wants to top Saturday's energetic performance by the returning champion Swedish team at the HSBC Celebration of Light.

The Swedes' dazzling display won the crowd over early with bursts of red and white filling the night sky, which cleared of cloud just in time for the show to start.

Original music by Swedish composer Ulf Soderberg had heavy drum beats that matched perfectly with the fingers of gold streams shooting up from the barge, and arcs of single balls of colour that flowed from one end to the other.

The crowd bopped to an energetic ABBA medley that included favourites Dancing Queen, Fernando and Waterloo, matched with green four-leaf clovers and the sky filled with golden sparkles that prompted spectators to cheer and clap their approval.

Anna Knowles, visiting Vancouver from England with her family, said she liked the colours and how the bursts matched the music so well. "I can see why they won last year," the 11-year-old said.

Tony Bartko thought the Swedish show topped Canada's performance last week. He said Canada's choice of jazz music put the crowd to sleep, compared with the energy created by Sweden's soundtrack. "I thought it was a lot more lively," he said.

The festive atmosphere continued after the show with crowds hooting and cheering as they filled the streets and filed away from English Bay. There were more people at the city's beaches than last Wednesday's crowd of 300,000, said Vancouver police spokesman Const. Howard Chow.

There was also more trouble than at the opening night of the competition, with five separate incidents of pepper spray being set off in the crowded streets as people were leaving the West End. Hundreds of people felt the effects of the pepper spray to some extent, said Chow, who described the sprayings as "disturbing."

"You can imagine the panic it creates for the brief moment when this happens. You see the crowd just surging in one direction or the other just to get away from the pepper spray."

With people filling the streets there is the possibility that people could fall down and get crushed by the crowds as they try to move away from the burning spray, he said. Symptoms of exposure to pepper spray include a runny nose, tearing eyes, coughing and a burning sensation in the eyes, Chow said.

Several people were detained in connection with the sprayings and the investigation is continuing.

In addition to more than 63 liquor seizures, eight assaults and 12 arrests, the fire department and Hazmat team were called to Kitsilano Point, where some chemicals were seized, said Chow. The substance was removed quickly and will be analyzed to determine what it is. No injuries were reported in the incident.

Police also received a report that rocks were being thrown from the roof of a building near Beach Avenue and Chilco Street. There were no injuries reported, Chow said.

"Long weekend, Saturday night, nice night, I think the expectation was that it was going to be busy like this."

There are two fireworks displays still to come in the 2005 HSBC Celebration of Light. China performs Wednesday and the grand finale will be held Saturday.

jmiller@png.canwest.com
© The Vancouver Sun 2005

----------------------------------------------------------------------

About 500,000 watch fireworks, Pride Parade
Sweden lights up the sky, parade had stronger political tone than in previous years

Jennifer Miller and Richard Chu
Vancouver Sun

August 2, 2005


VANCOUVER - About half a million people were dazzled over the B.C. Day long weekend by the colourful fireworks of the HSBC Celebration of light and the flamboyant floats of the city's 27th annual gay Pride Parade.

"It's one of those years where it seemed like so many people went out of their way to make this a special parade," Vancouver Pride Society spokesman Steven Schelling said of Sunday's 27th annual West End event.

The choreographed dances and costumes were particularly impressive this year, with an Austin Powers troupe dancing to the movie's chirpy theme Soul Bossa Nova and a return of "over-the-top, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert-type drag."

"You don't usually see that in Vancouver anymore and it was exciting to see people with giant pink hair and on stilts," he said.

Schelling estimated between 160,000 and 170,000 people attended the almost three-hour-long parade as it made its way along its traditional route from Denman Street to Sunset Beach.

"I think people were happy it stayed in the same place," he said referring to a proposal by the society earlier this year to move the parade to a route along Pacific Boulevard.

With the theme "No turning back," this year's parade had a stronger political tone than in previous years. "It's to point out that no matter how hard some people try, we are not going to give up the rights we've won in the last three decades . . . it's really about equality," he said.

Schelling said some people were treated for dehydration and heat stroke, including an elderly woman treated on site by paramedics.

On Saturday night, the Swedes' dazzling display on the second night of the HSBC Celebration of Light won the crowd over early with bursts of red and white filling the night sky, which cleared of cloud just in time for the show to start.

Organizers said more than 300,000 people converged around English Bay to watch the display of the event's returning champion.

There are two fireworks displays still to come. China performs Wednesday and the finale is on Saturday.

jmiller@png.canwest.com

rchu@png.canwest.com
© The Vancouver Sun 2005

China to cast sky in gold with new fireworks
Team adds shades of orange, purple, blue to presentation with a 'spectacular' finale

Jennifer Miller
Vancouver Sun

Wednesday, August 03, 2005

ADVERTISEMENT

VANCOUVER - The Chinese fireworks team has some new tricks up its sleeves for its performance tonight at the HSBC Celebration of Light. The show will have the grace the team is known for but will include some new colours and special shells that produce hardly any smoke, said designer Yves Relave.

For the first time, China will use different shades of orange, purple and light blue. The show will climax at the end with golden effects that will fill the sky from water level to 350 metres up in the air.

Gold shells typically use charcoal to produce the rich, bright colour, but in tonight's show the team is using gold shells made with the chemicals used in indoor fireworks to reduce the amount of smoke, Relave said. The music and fireworks will build throughout the 26-minute show towards this shimmering, dramatic finale. He is hoping the reaction of the crowd will also build through the show.

"It should be very, very spectacular," he said.

Relave chose mostly western-style music with choir singing for the show, which is titled "Voix de feu, feu de voix," or voice of fire, fire of voice. The singing voices will convey the same range of emotions as the fireworks, he said. Composers include Tim Wheater, Klaus Badelt and Richard Wagner. The musical score can be heard on Rock 101 -- 101.1 FM, starting at the 10 p.m. showtime.

The Chinese team has been a frequent competitor in Vancouver and took first prize most recently in 2003. The fireworks company, Beijing Zhong Fa Art Fireworks Corp., is a collaboration of five manufacturing plants in China, so the team is able to choose the best materials from each factory.

Relave said there is a good chance China will win this year, although he thinks just being invited is an honour.

Their show will be quite different from the other two competitors: Canada and Sweden. It will be softer and quieter than the others, with lots of big, high explosions of colour and light building to the dramatic finish, he said. China is the last country to compete and the 2005 festival winner will be announced before the grand finale Saturday.

Vancouver firefighters will be on hand again tonight to collect money for the fireworks festival society, which helps ensure the HSBC Celebration of Light continues in future years, and the firefighters' charitable society, which supports such causes as B.C. Children's Hospital. Watch for yellow balloons and giant firefighters' boots at eight locations around English Bay and Kits Beach as you make your way down for the show.

jmiller@png.canwest.com
© The Vancouver Sun 2005

i'm definitely not gonna miss China. Their 2003 show was incredible and the Chinese finale was undescribeable. Anyone remember that?

Ya im going to see China too. They will be fireing the fireworks mannualy instead of with a computer like Team Canada and Sweden did, I hope it makes for a more show that is more insync with the music.

Fireworks from Team China (more to come):

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/3531/31198228dd5f2bccd7b5hj.jpg

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/7133/312216862316cf26acb6fa.jpg

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/2236/3122133997f34a75a9b1pn.jpg

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/1259/312206674aa5288452b8ih.jpg

^ those fireworks were probably the highest this city has ever seen. that finale was 1,200 feet high!

in 2010, they should do what Sydney did....a "river of fire" fireworks. We'll have like 20 barges in the inlet and in False Creek. In the closing ceremony, fireworks will start at Science World and Canada Place and head west towards Lions Gate and Burrard Bridge. They'll continue to move west straight out the inlet like a river of fire and then, maybe we could have like a fighter jet going straight out to sea. and of course, we should have big ones like what China had for all of the barges and land locations.

another idea is that we should have a 15 day international fireworks competition in False Creek, as it is planned that there would be nightly fireworks displays at False Creek during the Games except for opening and closing day. We should have a mega Celebration of Light with each show 25 minutes long.

Day 1 - Canada

They are practice shots. Here are the ones that turned out somewhat respectable. Click for full size.

Sunset over English Bay
http://70.68.86.106/canada-small/dsc01899.jpg (http://70.68.86.106/canada/dsc01899.jpg)

The 'works
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My shots for Day 2 (Sweden) sucked. :(

MrX do you know what that would cost? That would be like a $500,000 fireworks budget not including the massive amount off security that would be needed. Plus people dont want to wait out side in what will likely be a cold -2 if its not raining in which case it will be like 5c not exactly the type of weather people love to wait outside in for 2hrs.

Day 3 - China

Okay, I finally figured out which setting to use, and they turned out alright this time. Hooray.

Again, click for full size.

An early shot at dusk to get our attention for an announcement.
http://70.68.86.106/china-small/dsc02915.jpg (http://70.68.86.106/china/dsc02915.jpg)

And the show itself. Too bad the air had to be so still and build up so much smoke, ruining the shots.
http://70.68.86.106/china-small/dsc02917.jpg (http://70.68.86.106/china/dsc02917.jpg)
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MrX do you know what that would cost? That would be like a $500,000 fireworks budget not including the massive amount off security that would be needed. Plus people dont want to wait out side in what will likely be a cold -2 if its not raining in which case it will be like 5c not exactly the type of weather people love to wait outside in for 2hrs.

well, VANOC has already said there would be nightly fireworks at False Creek. the question is how long will each show be? if it's 25 minutes for 15 days, that should cost less than $500,000/show as this is during winter and because False Creek is a smaller venue than English Bay, it would draw like crowds of 100,000-200,000.

I'm going over to see the finale tonight...And i'll take some pics as well:)

Pics I took at the Grand Finale...basically one giant beach party!

http://www3.telus.net/touareg03/photos/FW2005-Finale/011.jpg

http://www3.telus.net/touareg03/photos/FW2005-Finale/012.jpg

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http://www3.telus.net/touareg03/photos/FW2005-Finale/023.jpg

http://www3.telus.net/touareg03/photos/FW2005-Finale/024.jpg

Giant floating NIKE ad

http://www3.telus.net/touareg03/photos/FW2005-Finale/026.jpg

http://www3.telus.net/touareg03/photos/FW2005-Finale/043.jpg

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http://www3.telus.net/touareg03/photos/FW2005-Finale/052.jpg

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Harmony Airways (One of the main sponsors) did a fly-by with a B757 at 1000 feet. Looked a lot closer than in these pics and caught a lot of people off guard!

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Fireboats attempting to entertain the crowd

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Record crowd dazzled; Sweden tops

Jennifer Miller
Vancouver Sun

Monday, August 08, 2005

VANCOUVER - The Swedish fireworks team took first place for the second year in a row at the HSBC Celebration of Light fireworks competition.

It was declared the winner at the grand finale Saturday night in front of a crowd of about half a million people -- the most to ever attend a single night of the festival, according to organizers.

Sweden's energetic display, set to a soundtrack of original composed music, was a crowd favourite, said Maude Furtado, the competition's pyrotechnical supervisor.

"There was no big fight over who should win," she said of the judge's deliberation process. It was a close race between the three competitors with each bringing something different to the shows, but the decision to name Sweden the champion was almost unanimous.

"Canada presented a very sophisticated show, Sweden a very popular show, and China a very dramatic and theatrical show," she said.

The Swedish team had already left Vancouver for its next display in Finland and was not on hand to accept the glass trophy, but Furtado said the team would be happy with the win.

Record crowds made it difficult to get out of the West End after the 25-minute grand finale display that included an introduction, a portion of each country's performance, and an explosive finale of bright red bursts from the barge underneath a sky full of purple and white sparkling light.

After the show, some spectators climbed through bushes and over high fences to try to get off the beach quickly, but the crowds were almost at a standstill at Davie Street and Denman because so many people were trying to leave the area at once.

Lineups for the SkyTrain were extremely long-- even after midnight -- with countless rows of people a dozen across snaking down Howe Street and along Canada Place, waiting to enter Waterfront station. Despite the masses of people, most were orderly and well behaved, said Vancouver Police Department Const. Tim Fanning.

There were 15 arrests for public drunkenness, 15 arrests for weapons and other offences, and almost 200 seizures of liquor. A few fights broke out along Robson Street as people made their way to the SkyTrain, he said.

Considering the size of the crowd, Fanning said, "It's been pretty good."

About 1.5 million people attended the HSBC Celebration of Light over the four nights, said Alicia Maluta, general manager of the fireworks society. Warm, sunny weather every night of the festival brought people down to the beaches early in the day and increased crowds, she said.

"The weather makes a big difference to this event."

If people can stay respectful and well-behaved, the free festival can keep growing, Maluta said, but added that there is only so much space on Vancouver's beaches.

"It's quite awesome," Maluta said of the record attendance.

jmiller@png.canwest.com
© The Vancouver Sun 2005