Vancouver Events
The city of Vancouver is surrounded by great scenery and is full of culture and community activities. Visitors are made most welcome and vacations are even better when participating in Vancouver events. There are several annual festivals, which reflect the multicultural nature of the area and local culture. Some of these festivals are very unusual and cannot easily be found elsewhere.
The Illuminares Festival is a festival of light with hundreds of paper lanterns, made by hand. Local residents take a parade through Trout Lake Park in the East Van area after sunset. They are accompanied by music, provided by flutes, gamelan and drums, performed by local musicians. One of the most popular Vancouver events is the celebration that takes place to mark the Chinese New Year. There is a large population of Chinese people and Chinatown is made even more colorful with a parade. Celebrations are also held in Tinseltown Mall and Richmond. The International Buddhist Temple in Richmond has traditional food stalls, beautiful flower arrangements and Chinese calligraphy displays. There are also prizes to be won in raffles.
Richmond is also the setting for the Richmond Night Market. This Vancouver event is held during the summertime on Friday and Saturday evenings on a parking lot. The stalls are run by the Asian community and contain Asian food items, books, clothing, electronics, and Asian movie DVDs. There is also live entertainment at the market. Each year, crowds of people are entertained at the Vancouver Folk Festival. In addition to terrific music, this gathering promises a scenic setting at Jericho Beach, looking out at the harbor and mountains. The music is varied with contributions from traditional and modern acts on multiple stages.
For anyone that is a fan of horror stories, the Vancouver Zombie Walk is ideal! This Vancouver event is not for the squeamish but it's a lot of fun. The walk takes place either during summer months or closer to Halloween. Thousands of people dress up in zombie attire and march through the downtown area as one group, taking in residential streets and parks. This event for the living dead is a recent one to be added to the calendar but is already well established. One of the most ambitious Vancouver events is the HSBC Celebration of Light. It is held over four evenings and is the world's largest fireworks competition. More than a million people attend in late July and early August. The fireworks are choreographed to music, which is broadcast on a local radio station. This spectacle can be seen from the banks of English Bay, Downtown West End or Kits Beach in Kitsilano.
Summary
Events in Vancouver are very cultural in nature. Some common festivals that cannot be found anywhere else are Illuminares Festival, Chinese New Year celebration, Richmond Night Market, Vancouver Folk Festival, Vancouver Zombie Walk, and the HSBC Celebration Of Light. The last event is the largest fireworks competition in the world.
