One of Vancouver’s premier annual events is the Celebration of Light fireworks competition in English Bay in the middle of the summer each year.
In 2024 the fireworks happen on the Saturdays and Wednesday of July 20th, 24th and 27th.
For full details about the event, continue reading below. To see the fireworks from the water at a nightclub-style venue, consider joining a Vancouver Boat Parties dinner cruise. (That’s what we plan to do this year.) Another premium venue to see the show from is at Vanier Park at Bard Fireworks Nights. There is also the Evening at the Museum event on July 24th at the Vancouver Maritime Museum.
To learn about other events with fireworks at other times and places, see our articles about Lower Mainland Fireworks Events or the Farewell to Summer Fireworks Festival. Baseball games with the Vancouver Canadians also sometimes feature fireworks, including on July 20th and a few dates in August in 2024.
Celebration of Light Fireworks Information
Click on any of the following links to jump to specific information, or continue reading to learn everything there is to know!
Celebration of Light | Fireworks Concerts | Airshows | Where to Watch | Celebration of Light Video | About the Competition | Fireworks Judging | Other Information
Celebration of Light Fireworks
The Celebration of Light festival features a world-class fireworks competition with pyrotechnic displays by a different country each night. The event also used to feature lots of free live music, but not anymore. New for 2024, however, there is a Drone Show before the fireworks displays!
In 2024 the Celebration of Light events take place on the Saturday, Wednesday and Saturday of July 20th, 24th and 27th. The fireworks are absolutely amazing! Hundreds of thousands of people turn out on each of the three nights. You can watch the pyrotechnic displays for free from the beach and surrounding area, or you can spoil yourself and enjoy them from a number of ticketed venues. The fireworks blast off at about 10:00 pm each evening.
Participating countries this year are Portugal, Malaysia and the United Kingdom. The fireworks take off from the water by English Bay Beach.
TOP PLACES TO WATCH THE FIREWORKS
Premium venues to watch the fireworks from at English Bay Beach include Inukshuk Point and the Scotiabank Lounge on the Bathhouse Roof. There is also the Concord Pacific Grandstand. Another great place to watch the fireworks is from a Vancouver Boat Parties event out on the water.
For details about these and other best places to watch the fireworks from, click Top English Bay Fireworks Venues. Our list is one of Vancouver’s most comprehensive!
Celebration of Light
The Celebration of Light event is amazing! It attracts hundreds of thousands of spectators on each of the three days. Music accompanies the pyrotechnics, and people can tune in from anywhere by listening to CFMI Rock 101 FM radio.
In 2024, the dates and competitors are the following:
- 20th of July – Macedos Pirotecnia (from Portugal)
- 24th of July – Pyro Tact (from Malaysia)
- 27th of July – Pyrotex Fireworx (from the United Kingdom)
Last year’s winning fireworks company was Blue Peacock Fireworks from The Philippines.
Fireworks Concerts
In addition to music broadcast on radio to accompany the fireworks, live bands used to perform at the Celebration of Light in the afternoons and evenings. Unfortunately, as of 2024, that’s no longer the case (although there is live entertainment at other beaches and venues, as you’ll find out if you continue reading).
The concerts at the Celebration of Light used to take place at Sunset Beach and English Bay Beach years ago, but then in later years at Stanley Park near Second Beach. In 2022, however, the entertainment happened at English Bay Beach in and around Morton Park, not at Sunset Beach or Second Beach. In 2023 the live music stage was also located at Morton Park.
Last year there was live music and a beer garden at Morton Park at 1800 Morton Avenue. It’s the park by the intersection of Beach Avenue, Denman Street and Davie (where the circle of giant smiling character statues are). This is where the Morton Park Festival Zone has been the past couple of years. It included most of the festival’s pre-fireworks activities. There was entertainment, food trucks, giveaways and activations on each day in 2023. In 2024 there are just food trucks.
NOTE: A great place to enjoy free live music before the fireworks in 2024 is at Kitsilano Beach at the Kitsilano Showboat Stage. Free live entertainment happens there every Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening in July, including on the fireworks Saturdays of July 20th and 27th. Performing early in the evening on the first Saturday is the group Saints & Sinners. On the second Saturday it’s Cabral’s Fault and BRAS. On both nights, during the actual fireworks, there is simulcast music at the Kitsilano Showboat venue for everyone to enjoy.
English Bay Airshows
A tradition at the Celebration of Light event, prior to the fireworks, is the Air Show which features aerial acrobatics above the waters of English Bay.
It’s usually a single plane that’s fun to watch and visible from Sunset Beach to Second Beach and beyond (including from Vanier Park and Kitsilano Beach). The best place to watch from is English Bay Beach as that’s at the centre of the show, but you can see it from all over the region.
The airshow usually starts shortly before sunset, which itself can be a spectacular event to see. In 2024 the Air Show begins at 7:40 pm each day.
BASEBALL FIREWORKS
Here’s a tip. If you want to see fireworks but not from a beach surrounded by half a million people, another place you can watch different fireworks from is at Nat Bailey Stadium on a few special dates after a Vancouver Canadians Baseball Game in the summer. There are fireworks at the game on July 20th this year (so on the first day of the Celebration of Light event). There are also fireworks nights at Nat Bailey on August 1st, 8th & 22nd as well as on September 7th in 2024.
Where to Watch
The fireworks are set off from a barge just offshore from English Bay Beach, but they can be seen from miles around. Below are some of the best places to watch them from.
For an even more comprehensive list of best places to watch the fireworks from, click Top Fireworks Venues. For a brief list, see below.
English Bay Beach Views
Arguably the best place to watch the pyrotechnics is from English Bay Beach. That’s where the sandy shoreline and nearby lawns are covered with a couple of hundred thousand spectators on sunny evenings.
At English Bay you can sit on the beach and watch for free, or you can pay to watch from a few exclusive venues.
Premium Venues: If you don’t mind spending between around $67 and $232, you can reserve a spot and get varying degrees of special VIP treatment at a few different venues at English Bay Beach. These premium seats are a great way to spoil yourself, avoid the main crowds and have comfortable views of the fireworks displays. Enjoying the evening in comfort can be a real treat!
From the Water: If you have a boat, you can be like hundreds of other Vancouverites and park your vessel in English Bay and see the fireworks from the water. For many, this is even better than watching from the shore, plus you get to avoid the crowds and post-event traffic on the road.
Not everyone has access to a boat. To learn about boat party events that happen most years, see our article about Vancouver Boat Parties. In 2024 there is a dinner cruise on each night of the fireworks. We’re going on one and we can’t wait!
FOLK MUSIC & FIREWORKS
The dates for the Vancouver Folk Music Festival and Celebration of Light Fireworks don’t always coincide, but they do in 2024. This year the first day of the fireworks competition is the Saturday of the folk music festival. As a result, during the fireworks, the concerts at the music festival will pause on July 20th long enough for people to watch the fireworks. The music will then start back up again (which is great as it means that festival goers can wait a bit and not have to drive home at the height of fireworks traffic).
The Vancouver Folk Music Festival takes place at Jericho Beach and the view of the fireworks from there is actually pretty good. We’ve watched from there a couple of times and likely will do so again at least one night this season. The music festival is also amazing!
Other Pyrotechnic Viewing Areas
In addition to the main English Bay Beach venue, the Celebration of Light fireworks can be seen from all around the various shores of English Bay.
Impressive views of both the fireworks and the city are at Second Beach and Sunset Beach. The same can be said about Kitsilano Beach, which also features free Kitsilano Showboat concerts on the two Saturdays and a simulcast of the fireworks music.
Vanier Park offers great views as well, especially when the fireworks happen on July 24th in 2024 at the Vancouver Maritime Museum‘s Evening at the Museum event. Bard Fireworks Nights also take place at Vanier Park. Bard on the Beach features Shakespearean shows in the summer. On the evenings of July 20th, 24th and 27th you can attend a play, enjoy some food and drinks, and then watch the fireworks. It all makes for an exceptional experience!
If you like plays, we also highly recommend the musicals at Theatre Under the Stars at Stanley Park. Showing there in 2024 are CATS (on the July 20th and 24th fireworks nights) and School of Rock (on July 27th). On those three evenings the musicals start and finish an hour earlier than usual, which will allow audience members to head to Second Beach or elsewhere afterwards to enjoy the fireworks.
Jericho Beach is a bit far away, but it’s another nice place to watch from a distance and admire the Vancouver skyline at night. Jericho Beach is also where you’ll find terrific Folk Music on July 20th in 2024, as already mentioned above.
For a more complete and detailed list of venues to watch the fireworks from, click Celebration of Light Fireworks Venues.
Celebration of Light Video
Want to see what the Celebration of Light is all about, including its daytime festival activities when they take place? Then check out the following video. It shows scenes of the event from July 23rd in 2022, which was the night when Japan lit up the skies with its fireworks displays.
As you’ll see in the video, there is much more than just fireworks at the festival most years. There is live music, an airshow and a couple of hundred thousand people at English Bay Beach.
About the Fireworks Competition
The Celebration of Light event has been running for close to 30 years. To be exact, in 2020 it was going to celebrate its 30th anniversary. The hope was then to celebrate the anniversary in 2021. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. The 30th anniversary was celebrated in 2022 instead.
Every summer, over the course of the three nights of fireworks, as many as 1.3 million or more Vancouverites and folks from out-of-town enjoy the festivities and pyrotechnic displays.
In an average year around 500,000 people turn out to watch the fireworks on each of the two Saturdays. Slightly more attend on the last Saturday of the event than the first because it’s usually on the BC Day Long Weekend (although not in 2024). Close to 400,000 people typically watch on the Wednesday.
With the fireworks competition, three international teams are selected and given a budget by the Celebration of Light’s organizing committee. The competitors then work with that budget, but have the option to spend more of their own money.
The fireworks companies are based in their various respective countries, although most of the actual pyrotechnic devices are manufactured in China.
In a typical night around 6,000 fireworks are used. Sometimes, though, like with the Korean team a few years ago, the displays can involve as many as 8,000 individual fireworks or more.
About the Fireworks Barge
The barge used for the fireworks is owned by Seaspan. It’s used solely for fireworks events, we understand, although not only for just the three Celebration of Light evenings. The barge is also used for Canada Day, plus likely at other times when needed in Vancouver.
Setting up for the fireworks usually involves a Canadian team of 10 or so pyrotechnic experts, from both Vancouver and other parts of the country. It also involves around four members of each competitor’s team.
During the actual fireworks event, just four people remain on the barge – two of the Canadians and two members of the international team. They sit behind their computers inside a small building with bulletproof glass.
On board and behind the scenes during the actual fireworks displays, it’s not uncommon for some minor things not to go as expected. Very occasionally a small fire might even break out in places on the barge. For the most part, though, things run pretty smoothly, as evident by the visual success of the shows!
Fireworks Competition Judging
The main purpose of the Celebration of Light event is to “spark togetherness.” It’s also a competition, though, where the winning fireworks company gets valuable bragging rights for being the best.
Each year three different pyrotechnic companies compete, and each evening the respective fireworks competitor is rated by a panel of judges. The criteria for judging are the following (or at least they were a few years ago):
- General Design and Artistry – 30 points
- Synchronization of the Fireworks to their Music – 20 points
- Originality of the Show – 15 points
- Soundtrack Quality – 15 points
- Overall Fireworks Quality – 10 points
- Size of the Pyrotechnic Displays – 10 points
Other Information
To learn more about this spectacular three-day event, check out the official Celebration of Light website.
For a detailed list of top places to watch the fireworks from, click Best Celebration of Light Venues or Premium Venues at English Bay Beach.
To learn more about other activities taking place around the same time, see our July Calendar, August Calendar or article about the BC Day Long Weekend.
For a list of other Lower Mainland fireworks displays at other times of the year, click Metro Vancouver Fireworks Events.
For a list of other major events of all different kinds, check out Vancouver’s Festivals & Events Calendar.
