Yellow Fever
March 12th, 2009, 06:16 AM
Fireworks festival back on
By Elaine O’Connor, The Province
March 11, 2009 6:01 PM
http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr71/yellowfever_2008/fire.jpg
Fireworks burst over English Bay on July 30 as China participates in the Celebration of Light. Organizers announced its cancellation Wednesday.
Photograph by: Sam Leung file, The Province
The lights are back on for the Celebration of Light, thanks to a new Vancouver corporate sponsor.
Fireworks festival chairman Brent MacGregor announced Wednesday at city hall that the international pyrotechnics show would light up English Bay again this summer after Vancouver businessman David Aisenstat, CEO of The Keg restaurants and the new local radio station Shore 104 FM, stepped in with the resources to keep the rockets launching.
“We got lucky, with a lot of hard work by many individuals [and with] the contribution of another major sponsor to the event,” MacGregor said.
Aisenstat would not reveal the amount of the sponsorship, but MacGregor said the Vancouver Fireworks Festival Society was short three times the amount this year over years past, owing in part to the struggling economy.
“This year I have to say was the most difficult year in terms of raising the funding needed to produce the event, but it certainly is worthwhile,” he said.
It takes $4 million to put on the show, which has been run as a civic event since 2001.
Mayor Gregor Robinson said the renewal of the event was a welcome boost for the city.
“We’re proud to be hosting again here in Vancouver. It is a great family event with an average attendance of between 1.2 to 1.5 million people over the course of the four nights. And definitely provides a great boost to restaurants and the tourism industry,” he said.
The society announced on Feb. 4 that they were cancelling the event due to a shortfall. The society has also warned in previous years, including 2004 and 2007 that it would have to cancel.
MacGregor said the group were trying to secure stable, long-term funding for the event to avoid the cycle of cancellation and rescue announcements.
This year’s fireworks competitors are Canada, China, South Africa and the U.K. The festival kicks off on July 2.
eoconnor@theprovince.com
By Elaine O’Connor, The Province
March 11, 2009 6:01 PM
http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr71/yellowfever_2008/fire.jpg
Fireworks burst over English Bay on July 30 as China participates in the Celebration of Light. Organizers announced its cancellation Wednesday.
Photograph by: Sam Leung file, The Province
The lights are back on for the Celebration of Light, thanks to a new Vancouver corporate sponsor.
Fireworks festival chairman Brent MacGregor announced Wednesday at city hall that the international pyrotechnics show would light up English Bay again this summer after Vancouver businessman David Aisenstat, CEO of The Keg restaurants and the new local radio station Shore 104 FM, stepped in with the resources to keep the rockets launching.
“We got lucky, with a lot of hard work by many individuals [and with] the contribution of another major sponsor to the event,” MacGregor said.
Aisenstat would not reveal the amount of the sponsorship, but MacGregor said the Vancouver Fireworks Festival Society was short three times the amount this year over years past, owing in part to the struggling economy.
“This year I have to say was the most difficult year in terms of raising the funding needed to produce the event, but it certainly is worthwhile,” he said.
It takes $4 million to put on the show, which has been run as a civic event since 2001.
Mayor Gregor Robinson said the renewal of the event was a welcome boost for the city.
“We’re proud to be hosting again here in Vancouver. It is a great family event with an average attendance of between 1.2 to 1.5 million people over the course of the four nights. And definitely provides a great boost to restaurants and the tourism industry,” he said.
The society announced on Feb. 4 that they were cancelling the event due to a shortfall. The society has also warned in previous years, including 2004 and 2007 that it would have to cancel.
MacGregor said the group were trying to secure stable, long-term funding for the event to avoid the cycle of cancellation and rescue announcements.
This year’s fireworks competitors are Canada, China, South Africa and the U.K. The festival kicks off on July 2.
eoconnor@theprovince.com