The end of the fireworks: picture and videos
Lydia and I went to the HSBC Celebration of Lights at English Bay again last night. As did everyone else in Vancouver. It was packed and the fact that dinner took us so long meant that we did not get to sit down like before, but had to stand in an ever shifting crowd with our heads and necks craned to the sky.
More stuff, including videos of fireworks, crowds and cops after the jump. So just click below and make the leap with me. Trust me it’s worth it.
Mexico’s fireworks were the best of the ones that we saw this year, and they rightly won the tournament. I’m not sure who was judging but that’s how it happened. Then there was a brief pause and then a finale, which was okay but not as good as what had come before.
Getting back was hard as we were stuck in a mass of people who did not seem to be moving at all, it was like a traffic jam except that everyone was on foot. There was evidently some excitement up Denman but wisely we got off on Davis and made our way down Cardero instead because that way we could actually move. Meanwhile the police all over the place, and once again they had their helicopter out to watch over us.
The festival of Light has a dark side.
I LOVE Fireworks, and I wish I could see more displays like the HSBC Festival. I think, however, that Vancouver can no longer afford to host this event.
There were no fewer than 5 serious stabbings last night, and a huge number of other minor injuries. In addition the number of intoxicated people and overdoses requiring medical attention reached near disaster proportions.
Normally I would be strongly against cancelling an event just because a few people spoil it for the many, but the events of last night and last Saturday go far beyond acceptable risk.
As I said, I love Fireworks, but I can not support an event like this that brings so many problems.
Well we’re going to have to learn to deal with it because 2010 is not getting any further away and if we can’t even deal with fireworks then what are we going to do with the Olympics?
I don’t see how New York can have half a million people fill the streets for New Year’s without any major problems while we can’t seem to have even fireworks without a certain group of people gettng drunk and ruining it for a lot of other people. We’ve lost a couple of really neat festivals and events over the years because of this. We really need to grow up and learn to behave ourselves.
No one who’s FROM NYC goes to Times Square for New Years Eve :p It’s not exactly and apples to apples comparison.
In Vancouver: “…there were about 325 liquor seizures and pour-outs, 12 adults arrested for being intoxicated in a public place, as well as 4 juveniles arrested for being drunk in a public place.”[cknw]
Sure that is absolutely nothing to be proud of.
I’m also sure we do not hear about the arrests in NYC and they also resort to stuff like: “…240 metal detectors and thousands of police officers. Mail boxes and garbage cans [are] removed and manhole covers were sealed. In the skies… warplanes and armed helicopters.” [cbc]
To be fair to NYC they do up the police presence because of terrorism as well, not just a rowdy crowd.
However you’re right. Having been to NYC pre-9/11 even then the regular everyday police presence in the city is overwhelming compared with Vancouver. I found the same with London, Paris and Toronto both pre and post 9/11.
If Vancouver were Paris during an average day we’d have cops in full riot gear and sub machine guns wandering around outside the VAG. During something like the fireworks then it’d be way more.
So then is it just a case of Vancouver not really being used to dealing with big events, and not having enough cops on the ground at the time?