During the Celebration of Light festival, Bard on the Beach hosts special nights of entertainment that include a show, dessert and a viewing of the fireworks.
In 2025 the fireworks events take place on the evenings of July 19th and 26th.
For full details about the Shakespearean festival and its various special events, including Bard Fireworks Nights, visit bardonthebeach.org.
This article includes the following information about Bard Fireworks Nights:
Admission Rates | Bard Fireworks Schedule | Other Information
Vancouver’s Bard Fireworks Nights
The Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival is one of the premier summertime events in Vancouver. It takes place from June until September each year and includes three or four shows that play at various times.
In 2025 the productions are Much Ado About Nothing, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] [again] and The Dark Lady. They are staged from June 10th to September 20th.
Also during the summer is the Honda Celebration of Light which is a massive fireworks festival that happens over English Bay. Hundreds of thousands of people go each night to watch the fireworks explode high in the sky in professional displays.
If you want to watch the fireworks show but don’t want to do it at crowded English Bay Beach, one option is to attend a Bard Fireworks Night in Vanier Park. On two of the three nights of fireworks, Bard on the Beach hosts a special event where you can buy a ticket not just for the evening’s play, but also for a dessert buffet and exclusive viewing of the Honda Celebration of Light fireworks. There are also picnic bundles available at an additional cost.
Another series of special events at Bard on the Beach this year is Talkback Tuesdays which features question and answer sessions with Bard on the Beach cast members on select Tuesdays. There are also Wine Wednesdays for adults who can enjoy wine tastings and savoury bites before the shows.
2025 dates for the fireworks and the Bard Fireworks Nights are July 19th and 26th.
For tickets and full details, see the Bard on the Beach website.
Admission Rates
To attend the Bard Fireworks Night event you need to buy a ticket to one of that evening’s performances. The 2025 BMO Main Stage production Much Ado About Nothing and the Douglas Campbell Theatre production The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] [again] are those that play on each of the two fireworks nights this year.
Regular tickets range from about $100 to $165, depending on your age and where you sit. Tickets include the dessert buffet and fireworks. Family picnics for four people cost an additional $150. There are also individual picnic options for about $36 and $48 per person.
Bard on the Beach shows are popular on their own, so make sure to not wait too long to buy tickets if you want to go to a special event night. Fireworks Nights at Bard are tremendously popular!
2025 Bard Fireworks Schedule
The 2025 Bard Fireworks Nights are on the Saturdays of July 19th and 26th. On each of those days the performances begin at 6:00 pm.
This year’s Celebration of Light participants are Midnight Sun (from Yukon), Royal Pyrotechnie (from Quebec) and Fireworks FX (from Nova Scotia). For the first time ever, all three contestants are Canadian (whereas in past years they have been from three different countries). They compete on July 19th, 23rd and 26th respectively (so Royal Pyrotechnie won’t be part of the Bard event).
This year’s dessert buffet menu features both a cookie sandwich bar and a donut station. Picnic bundles, on the other hand, come with multi-course meals.
The fireworks shows start at about 10:15 pm and are watched from a designated outdoor viewing area. There’s also a drone show each night at 10:00 pm. Bard Village is only about a kilometre away from English Bay Beach with a view directly over the water to where the fireworks take off from. The view of the fireworks from Vanier Park is exceptional!
For tickets and full details, see the Bard on the Beach website.
Other Information
For tickets and full details about the event, see the Bard on the Beach website.
Click Bard on the Beach for more information about this Shakespearean festival. To learn more about the fireworks show itself check out our articles on the Celebration of Light.
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