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Vancouver councillors have voted to allocate up to $2 million in city funds to host a one-day free fireworks festival this August.
It comes months after the longstanding Celebration of Light event was cancelled due to a lack of senior government funding.
Mayor Ken Sim argued in a motion on Wednesday that the three-day Celebration of Light event attracted millions of people to downtown Vancouver, B.C., from around the region.
Sim said that the city had already committed an average of $1.4 million in operational funding to support emergency costs, traffic changes and post-event cleanup for the event — and free events like it were an important part of building community.
Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung said the event would provide levity as people struggle with affordability. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung, who is part of Sim’s ABC Vancouver slate, said that the budget with a zero per cent property tax increase showed that council was focused on affordability.
“In an era when people are really struggling with affordability, these free events really matter to people and they … create a little bit less pressure,” she said.
WATCH | Businesses lament end of Celebration of Light:
How Vancouver businesses are reacting to the Celebration of Lights being cancelled
Vancouver businesses say the loss of a major summertime event, the Festival of Lights at English Bay beach, will lead to a major downturn in revenue. Organizers of the Celebration of Light fireworks festival said it can’t go ahead without long-term government and private-sector support. CBC’s Meera Bains reports on the impact.
Sim’s motion notes the $2 million was a “one-time, event-specific funding decision,” and it includes a commitment to lobby the province and federal government for more funds to resume the Celebration of Light.
The Celebration of Light event, which had been held at English Bay Beach for three decades, saw a number of fireworks shows being held in July.
But organizers said the event was indefinitely cancelled last November, citing dwindling provincial and federal funding and private sector investment.
WATCH | Vancouver and the ‘No Fun City’ nickname:
When was Vancouver first given its least flattering nickname of ‘No Fun City?’
The cancellation of Vancouver’s annual Celebration of Light fireworks festival brought back one of the city’s least flattering nicknames: “No Fun City.” We may have found what could be the earliest use of that phrase — an article written in the year 2000 from The Province newspaper. It was ironically also about the fireworks show being in jeopardy. And it was written by our very own CBC reporter Jason Proctor, who tells us about the article.Opposition critical
Though Sim’s motion passed, opposition councillors were critical of it, saying committing funds to a one-day event went against the city’s recently-passed “austerity budget” and staff cuts due to financial constraints.
“The fact of the matter is the Celebration of Light wasn’t financially working,” Green Coun. Pete Fry said in an interview.
“The business model had failed and the funding didn’t come from senior levels of government … the reality is that we’re sacrificing a bunch of things to meet these budget commitments from the mayor.”
WATCH | Celebration of Lights cancelled:
Celebration of Light fireworks festival cancelled over funding issues
Vancouver’s Celebration of Light has drawn millions of people to English Bay for more than three decades, but the annual fireworks festival won’t be going ahead next year. As Amelia John reports, organizers say a lack of government and corporate funding is to blame.
Fry pointed out that hundreds of city staffers had seen their jobs cut due to budgetary pressures, and that Sim was “bailing out” the fireworks event in an election year.
Sean Orr, a councillor with COPE, said they had heard from arts organizations struggling to compete for a dwindling share of grant funding amid the affordability crunch.
He said he wasn’t against the fireworks show, but $2 million was a lot of money to commit for a one-hour-long event.
“There could be a better business plan to make this happen. You know, sponsors could step up … there’s a lot of very rich people in the city that could step up,” he argued.