Well we watched the fireworks from Jericho Beach last night. We had to be there at five o'clock anyway so we thought that we might as well pack a picnic and stay there to watch the fireworks. The weather was perfect and the water warmish by Vancouver standards, so we swam for a while, watched kids building sand castles, had philosophical discussions, ate our packed dinner and enjoyed relaxing the time away until the big event. We had to be there in the first place because we had to show a lady a boat. She is 5 feet tall and she struggles to carry the regular wooden boats. But Brian’s boats are very light and she could carry it with no problem. So she decided to buy one.

And the fireworks were excellent. They seemed quite far away from Jericho Beach but on the other hand I could lie down on the beach with oodles of space between us and the nearest group of people and see the whole barge without anyone's head blocking my view which I'm sure wasn't the case at English Bay. Afterwards we had a short walk to our car and joined the long, slow line of vehicles heading homeward.

The fireworks were set to the theme of the Wizard of Oz. Some of the songs were “The Wicked Witch is Dead, "The Wonderful Wizard", "If I Only Had a Heart" and the spectacular finale blazed the sky to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". I thought that the visual interpretation and the synchronicity with the music was very good. The Canadian team did us proud. Next up is South Africa on Saturday.

This weekend coming up - the 25th and 26th July is my all time #1 favorite event of the Vancouver summer - the Caribbean Days Festival at Waterfront Park next to Lonsdale Quay / the seabus terminal in North Vancouver. The music is great and there is always a party atmosphere. The festival begins with a colourful parade -

...the streets come alive with the sights and sounds of Carnival. Enjoy the spectacle of a multitude of costumed revellers cavorting down the streets of North Vancouver.

There is live music throughout the weekend, lots of food, a beer garden and a market to browse and buy trinkets. On the Saturday evening from 7pm to 1am there is a monster jam dance.

This monster jam is held at North Vancouver's Lonsdale Quay Plaza, right by the Seabus Terminal and 2 minutes' walk from the Festival grounds. Food and licensed beverages will be served.
Dance in the open air from 7:30PM - 1:00AM to Soca, Salsa, Reggae, Chutney, African & Calypso rhythms with 2 live bands and a DJ.

Boating and Lights in the Sky

The Vancouver folk festival event was great fun. On Sunday we enjoyed the music from the waters around Kits beach in our canoe. My man makes skin-on-frame boats. The frame is made of cedar and the skin is made of ballistic nylon, which makes them very light and very tough and durable. The worst thing about a boat is lugging the heavy thing down to the water. It's often so much trouble that you end up not boating because you just cant face the thought of the work involved with launching it and then getting it out of the water and back home again afterwards. Dreamcatcher boats are so light that your kids can carry them and so tough that your kids cant break them! They turn boating into a pleasure!


Tonight is the first of the four Vancouver International Fireworks Festival events. Canada is on show tonight. They have won the last two events and are hoping to make it three in a row, so prepare for a spectacular event. In fact the fireworks displays of the Vancouver HSBC Celebration of Light are always spectacular events. People turn out in thousands and pack together like sardines all over the beaches and bridges and apartment rooves etc to watch half an hour of sheer squandery. There are those who say it is a waste to spend so much money on frivolity when there are people starving in the world. But I think that something that gives so much pleasure to so many, that is talked about and anticpated all year and draws people from far and wide to view can't be such a bad thing. Men, women and children enjoy it with the same childlike glee. Nowhere else do you hear so many simultaneous OOOOOOOHs and AAAAAAHs. Personally I love it - it brightens my world. What would the Vancouver summer be without it. And every year the same question must be answered. Where shall I watch it from. For the extremely brave at heart English Bay beach is THE SPOT - in front of the Beach House. But you have to be prepared to get there early to stake out a spot and as the evening wears on watch your spot grow smaller and smaller as people push and crowd into it. until you are literally rubbing shoulders with everyone. The fireworks can be seen from Stanley Park, and all the beaches facing onto English Bay. Then of course you can pay for a view with a little more comfort. There is the Bard-B-Que which I mentioned in the Pound of Flesh blog. and you can ...


Enjoy the best seats in English Bay while viewing one of the most world-renowned fireworks competitions. You won't have to worry about packing a beach blanket, fighting for space, and getting sand in your shoes, as your Prime Viewing Seat is located on top of the Bathhouse Roof in English Bay, where you will enjoy theatre-style seating with surround-sound music. Don't miss out on these Prime Viewing Seats while enjoying a spectacular evening as fireworks light up the sky over head.Capacity is limited. Tickets are for general admission seating only.


The paragraph above is borrowed from: http://www.ticketstonight.ca/ticketstonight/event.details.php?id=2515

where you can purchase your tickets.


If you go for one of the free venues you might want to take a radio to listen to the music - it's much more enjoyable to watch the fireworks while listening to the music that it was designed to accompany. Some people choose to escape the crowds on the beach by venturing out into the bay in a boat. But be warned - the waters get pretty crowded too, and the other boaters are not always experienced and sensible and there tends to be a race to get to shore when the fireworks are over! Wear a life jacket or stay on the beach!

A pound of flesh

The folk festival has always had the added benefit that vendors of all kinds of trinkets and tasty treats spread out around the fenced off area enclosing the musical activities. In the past this has always been a "come down early and stake out a spot" affair but from this year onwards there are new rules to be abided by, new application forms to fill in, new fees to pay ($200 no less!) and no more food! I guess somebody realised that they weren't getting their pound of flesh out of the deal!

Speaking of a pound of flesh, another of my favorite Vancouver summertime entertainment classics is Bard on the Beach. This is always so well produced, portraying the plays of Shakespeare with a modern flair and a little british humour always shines through. This years selected plays are Othello, Richard II, All's Well That Ends Well and The Comedy of Errors. Othello will be my first choice this year since it was one of the plays we did in high school, so I know it better than most - one of the great tragedies. My absolute favorite way of seeing the plays is by attending one of the Bard-B-Que's. These are held on the nights that the Celebration of Light fireworks take place. You watch the first half of the play before taking a break to a delicious salmon barbeque. You then watch the second half which is timed to end shortly before the beginning of the fireworks display - giving you just enough time to serve up your dessert before finding a chair on the spacious lawn for the amazing explosion of colours and lights in the sky.

So many things to do - so little time

There are so many places to go, things to see, music to listen and dance to and special events happening in and around Vancouver BC in the summertime, that it's often a pretty tough choice picking where to go on your days off.

I love live outdoor music, which makes Vancouver summers a happy time for me.
Friday nights are generally decided for me - something quite special has to come up to keep me away from Concerts in the Cove down at Panorama Park in Deep Cove. The setting is awesome, the music is always great, and there's always an atmosphere of family fun and relaxation. The only thing that can spoil the relaxation is if you dont get there early to find parking.

This Friday however it has strong competition - the folk festival is coming to town.