Perfect birthday

Did I say I don’t really like fireworks? Well, I take it all back, I’m totally convinced after yesterday’s show.

We left the Community Center around half past nine – the show was starting at ten – and by that time they had already closed Denman and Davie for traffic. It was just starting to get dark, and everywhere was full of people heading to the beach. There were probably well over 100,000 people in West End, and although beaches and lawns seemed to be totally full we managed to find a nice spot for two (but not much more) without much effort.

By this time the sun was almost set, and the horizon was red while the sky was deep blue. We were sitting there quietly enjoying the atmosphere, the beach was packed but there were very little drunks or any other disorderly behavior - this is unusual for me as both in England and Finland this would have turned into a huge who’s-most-drunk competition, think about it, several hours on the hot beach waiting for the show to start. But people were there with their families, with young kids, with their friends, with their partners, and lot of people were they in their boats keeping a distance from the cargo boats that were going to be used for launching the fireworks.

Then it started. The cargo boats lights turned off, and the music started, Canada’s entry to this event was called "Jazz in the Sky" – we didn’t hear it too well from where we were, but we’ll get a little radio for Saturday’s show – and pretty much from the first moment on I was completely stunned. I took couple of photos but pretty soon I was just staring with my jaw on the grass – I wish I could explain what it was like. There were so many things I’ve never seen before – red fireflies that moved around like they were alive, different purple formations, huge huge golden palm trees that exploded into sparkles, hoops with different colours, stars, hearts, the flowers with white petals... It was pure poetry. Crowd was alive, cheering and clapping for the best ones, most of the time there was just the chorus of ooh’s and aah’s, which we joined clasping each others hands because the experience was just so perfect.

So fireworks? I adore them. We have already picked a place for Saturday’s show – the Swedish team – closer to home this time, because although we were not far, normally it would take about five minutes to walk home from where we were, in the crowd it took almost half an hour. We’ll take a radio so we can hear the music better, maybe some picnic food... it’s gonna be perfect. Just hoping Dragon can make it this time.

See also Vancouver Sun’s article about the show.

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