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Video + Photos: Here's what the first night of Vancouver's 2023 Celebration of Light looked like

Did you see it?
july-22-fireworks
Australia's vibrant Celebration of Lights fireworks display kicked of the 2023 event.

Arguably Vancouver's most popular event of the year, the Celebration of Lights, started this weekend with a massive fireworks show from Australia.

The July 22 display came from Howard and Sons, a family-run company that's been around for more than 100 years and has competed twice in Vancouver, at the 1992 and 2016 competitions.

Along with the display, there were performances by Red Bull pilots in the sky and the False Creek Ferries in, well, False Creek. Officials estimate hundreds of thousands of people watch the show from somewhere in Vancouver, with tens of thousands gathering along the city's beaches, shore, and bridges.

Here's how the first night of fiery explosions looked.

Just before the fireworks began, the little ferries did an aquatic ballet.

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Garfield Wang (@gar.field.w)

 

@emilyjbell_ celebration of light, vancouver 🎇🎆 #fyp #bc #vancouver #vancouverlife🇨🇦 #vancouverbc #vancity #fireworks #englishbay #vancouvertok #vancouvertiktok #canada ♬ stellar - .diedlonely & énouement

 

@erikajenks It was so fun hearing the west end cheering from their balconies, what a beautiful show ✨ #hondacelebrationoflight #vancouver #vancouverfireworks #fireworks2023 #englishbay #community #summer #weekendfun ♬ original sound - <3

 

People were able to watch from all over Vancouver, including some of the towers near downtown.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by sushininja (@sushininja)

 

@melllllli.g Summer highlight forsure. #vancouverfireworks ♬ original sound - <3

 

One person even captured a romantic "movie-like" proposal under the twinkling fireworks.

@zuzannaelt ngl I actually teared up 🥺 wish them all the best 💓 #vancouver #vancouverbc #fireworks #fyp #canada ♬ Say Yes To Heaven - Sped Up - Lana Del Rey

Meanwhile, one lookout had an unfortunate sprinkler incident.

Sprinklers timer went off right at 10pm at Cypress lookout
by u/veggietofulover in vancouver

The display was so massive that it even showed up on DriveBC's highway cams.

 

Post-show thousands of people had to migrate out of the West End like a great herd.

 

 

 

There's going to be two more nights of fireworks, on July 26 and 29. 

 

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