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About 230,000 people attended Vancouver’s one-night Summer Lights fireworks show on Friday, according to preliminary estimates from event producer BandLive.
The city created Summer Lights after the long-running Celebration of Lights festival ended, saying it wanted to offer residents a free public fireworks celebration in 2026.
The Celebration of Lights festival had been running for 33 years in Vancouver.
In an email to CBC News, the City of Vancouver said free non-ticketed events “continue to face significant pressure,” since they don’t generate ticket revenue.
The city said it is committed to “working with community partners, sponsors and all levels of government to explore a sustainable funding model to carry this tradition forward.”
“Community events are an important part of the cultural and social fabric of Vancouver,” the email reads.
Despite the large crowds on the streets and at English Bay Beach, Vancouver police said it was like any other Friday night.
People arrived at English Bay, well before the event’s start time, to secure spots with clear views of the water. (Dominique Levesque/CBC)
“Nothing really popped off on our map that looked irregular given the influx of people coming in for the fireworks,” said Vancouver police Const. Darren Wong.
He said previous work on Celebration of Lights festival helped the department to be prepared for this event, but also attributed some preparedness to the FIFA World Cup.
“We [took] in our previous experience of dealing with fireworks, we [took] in our experience with FIFA. All of our officers that were deployed to keep everyone safe that day really helped to create a really safe and fun environment,” Wong said.
Vancouver city hall with downtown Vancouver in the background. (Gian-Paolo Mendoza/CBC)
In February Vancouver councillors voted to allocate up to $2 million in city funds to host the one-day free fireworks festival.
Mayor Ken Sim had argued in a motion that the three-day Celebration of Light event attracted millions of people to downtown Vancouver from around the region.
Though Sim’s motion passed, opposition councillors were critical of it, saying committing funds to a one-day event went against the city’s “austerity budget” and staff cuts due to financial constraints.