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It's Monday July the 17 around 3:23PM and

Pretty Lights

I've always been a little baffled by the HSBC Celebration of Light - yeah, the sparkly fireworks are fun, but people must be absolutely mad to subject themselves to the insanity that is English Bay for these four nights a year. The whole thing lasts for about twenty minutes (albeit a fairly spectacular twenty minutes), but if you want a good seat you need to expose yourself to drunk teenagers spilling their beer on your blanket and a child's elbow in your ear. Much preferable to seat yourself down somewhere a little out of the fray just before the show starts and watch the fireworks unfettered by crazy people. And then you can have the pleasure of drinking your own beer in peace, content in the knowledge that any blanket spillage is entirely your own.

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Comments

Posted by: James

July 17, 2006 04:08 PM

Oh goodie, now I know what nights to expext a flood of humanity down my street. I don't even live that close to the beach (W10th + Arbutus) and yet every year all the folks driving seem to use 10th ave as a detour around congested Broadway.

Screaming drunk kids hanging out the car windows ahoy!

Posted by: miss604

July 17, 2006 06:44 PM

I used to be one of those 'kids from the burbs' that would come all the way downtown on a weeknight to enjoy the show - putting up with knives being drawn on my friends, drunken people smashing things and a mob of 100,000 people waiting in line for the skytrain for 3 hours... oh the good times.

Last year I was living in kits (on 4th) and it was nuts until 4am. I'm now living in the West End and yeah...although I'll get home sooner, I anticipate little sleep and much aggrevation but man, that's just Vancouver in the summer isn't it?

Posted by: otto

July 18, 2006 03:26 AM

The fact that the Fireworks become the talk of the town in Vancouver ("Where are you going to watch the fireworks from? What? You don't plan on watching the fireworks?") speaks volumes about where we are as a city.

In real 'world class' cities, fireworks, the local sports team(s), or the occasional U2 concert are mere footnotes within a more diverse social scene. Nobody really talks about these 'bread and circus for the masses-type' events.

My point being, to outsiders we sound like a bunch of rubes when we get all lathered up over the fireworks (and Canucks, for that matter). I can't wait until the day when they're no more than one of 50 interesting things going on in this city.

Posted by: Lee

July 18, 2006 08:18 AM

Otto is sounding like that person in high school that always talked about moving away to NYC (where things are way cooler)... except they didn't go.

Posted by: Ronalad

July 18, 2006 02:11 PM

You have to wonder how many kids are conceived on the night of the fireworks.

Posted by: gusgreeper

July 19, 2006 12:23 PM

THE SKUNKS!!!! i can't take the skunks one went off the other night and i had to put a mask on abc took photos i should post them.
man i HATE living down here during the fire works. A LOT.

i hope after the wedding next month we move out of down town.

Posted by: Meg

July 24, 2006 11:28 AM

And I can watch it all -- noise free -- from my precious, precious deck on the N.Shore.