Vancouver Celebration of Light International Fireworks Competition!!!

Summer is truly underway when that seminal seasonal event—the annual Vancouver Celebration of Light International Fireworks Competition is just around the corner: It starts July 21, 2010.

Photo © Celebration of Light

The Celebration of Light Fireworks Competition is more than just four nights of amazing pyrotechnics; it’s become one of the most prestigious fireworks competitions in the world and the summer event in the Lower Mainland. On consecutive Wednesdays and Saturdays, July 21 – 31, the night sky over English Bay will light up with phenomenal firework displays from this year’s competitors—the United States, Spain, and Mexico, with a tribute to China—and hundreds of thousands of people will stop whatever they’re doing to watch the show.

The best vantage points for watching the Celebration of Light Fireworks are the beaches facing English Bay: English Bay Beach, Vanier Park and Jericho Beach. These sites are always super crowded, so be sure to go early if you want a spot on the beach, and do not drive (especially to English Bay Beach: the entire West End will be closed to non-local traffic).

But you don’t have to fight crowds to get a good viewpoint. While English Bay Beach offers a great experience (the beach fills up with spectators and food vendors and party fiends!) the Burrard Street Bridge is just as nice as a viewpoint.

Wherever you watch them, don’t miss this spectacle!

Vancouver’s Celebration of Light 2010 Fireworks Competition happens July 21, 24, 28 and 31!

Free Toronto Event!

FREE, FREE, FREE! You heard me! For those of you in Ontario’s capital, don’t miss out on the city’s Doors Open Toronto event taking place May 29 and 30, 2010. One weekend, once a year, 150 bulidings of architectural historic, cultural and social significance open their doors to the public for a city-wide celebration.

The program allows visitors free access to properties that are either not usually open to the public, or would normally charge an entrance fee. Many locations have organized guided tours, displays and activities to enrich the visitor experience.

Participating buildings include heritage landmarks, modern structures, hidden gems, green roofs, places of worship, halls of learning, boardrooms, bedrooms, breweries, lighthouses, mansions, museums, theatres, national historic sites, centres of rail travel, cemeteries, factories, banking halls, architects’ offices and more.

Doors Open Toronto invites you to get to know the city, whether you’ve lived in Toronto all your life or you’re visiting for the first time. See Toronto like you’ve never seen it before!

This event is free, so I don’t know why you wouldn’t want to go!

Click here for a list of the participating structures, or get your Doors Open Toronto program guide in the Thursday, May 27 issue of the Toronto Star.

Have fun and let us know on Facebook what you thought of the event!

Cheers,

Laura

Looking forward to Good Friday?

So I’m not sure about the rest of you but I’m ready for the summer to get here! School is really cracking down on me now because of final exams and final papers and the entire student body is just burnt out and lots of people are getting sick…boo! But don’t fret there is a light at the end of this dark tunnel…wow way to be over dramatic eh?! We do have a FOUR DAY WEEKEND to look forward to. Next Friday, March 2nd and Monday, March 5th we have those days off! Thank God…some could say literally…for Good Friday and Easter Monday. I have nothing special planned for that weekend, which is nice but Vancouver is hosting lots of “long weekend” parties. So why not start the weekend off right and  party hard on a Thursday. Venues such as The Academic, Republic, Library Square, etc So make sure you get on grabbing some tickets for whichever event you are interested in cause those tickets will be swept up quickly! If you’re not sure of what you want to do then check out sites such as clubzone for listing of events and venues. Otherwise if you want to take this time to stay in and relax that’s another option too but just remember you have FOUR DAYS to do it!