Revelers headed to Canada Place to celebrate Canada Day won’t be taking in a fireworks display this year — or any year going forward.
The Port of Vancouver, which co-hosts the city’s Canada Day festival with the federal government, confirmed that a decision not to produce the display in 2022 is permanent.
It’s been nearly four years since a pyrotechnic display lit up Coal Harbour to mark modern Canada’s founding.
Festivities were cancelled in 2020 and 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic due to restrictions on public gatherings.
While the Canada Day event returned in 2022, Port of Vancouver spokesperson Alex Munro said the organization decided to cancel the display “primarily due to rising costs.”
The 2023 event will focus more on daytime events and will continue with a new theme launched in 2022 that Munro described as a “huge success,” drawing about 150,000 people.
“We also decided last year to take our July 1 event at Canada Place in a new direction, following national conversations about how to best celebrate Canada Day in light of the tragic findings at residential schools,” Munro said.
“The event was re-named Canada Together and is planned collaboratively with representatives from the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations under the theme of ‘weaving together the fabric of a nation.’”
An events lineup for the 2023 festivities has yet to be released.
Locals looking for a fireworks experience will still be able to head to Surrey, where a Canada Day festival headlined by Broken Social Scene and Crown Lands is scheduled for the Bill Reid Millennium Amphitheatre.
The fireworks at that event kick off at 10:15 p.m. with a display scheduled for 10:15 p.m. July 1.
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