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Why the Honda Celebration of Light fireworks start time is 15 minutes later this year

Kenneth Chan
Kenneth Chan
|
Jul 14 2025, 4:07 pm
Why the Honda Celebration of Light fireworks start time is 15 minutes later this year
Honda Celebration of Light fireworks in English Bay. (Leon Wang/Shutterstock)

Look up to the sky over English Bay in Vancouver and enjoy the Honda Celebration of Light fireworks — now starting 15 minutes later than usual.

This weekend marks the return of Vancouver’s largest public event — a beloved and long-running summertime tradition, which is expected to draw upwards of 500,000 people to the beaches, parks, and waterfront areas around English Bay for each of the three 2025 shows.

If you’re watching from a distance without the radio or event speakers — including the countdown and music simulcast — and wondering why the fireworks haven’t begun at the usual 10 p.m. start time, there’s a simple reason.

Organizers told Daily Hive that the new 10:15 p.m. start time for all three 2025 fireworks shows will allow for a darker sky backdrop, enhancing the visual impact — including for the BC Honda Dealers Drone Show, which begins each night at 10 p.m. as a pre-fireworks spectacle. The LEDs of the drone show will become more visible as a result of this later start time, as opposed to the 9:50 p.m. start time for the drone show in 2024.

Each of the three nightly fireworks shows will still run for 25 minutes, meaning they will now conclude at 10:40 p.m., instead of the previous 10:25 p.m. finish. Spectators who rely on public transit to go home should take the later end time into account for planning their trips home.

This better accommodates the extended daylight at dusk, as the three-night fireworks event has been moved one week earlier since 2023, with its final night no longer coinciding with the Vancouver Pride Parade and the B.C. Day long weekend.

To illustrate the impact of this shift: the first night of the 2025 fireworks is scheduled for Saturday, July 19, when the sun sets at 9:08 p.m. Historically, the first show would have been held on Saturday, July 26 — with the final night coinciding with the B.C. Day long weekend — when the sun sets slightly earlier, at 9 p.m. Although this is just eight minutes apart, it makes a noticeable difference, as the new 10:15 p.m. start time now aligns with a later stage of nautical twilight, providing a darker sky for an enhanced visual experience.

This difference is even more pronounced for the earlier drone show. Up until about a decade and a half ago, the fireworks previously had a later start time of 10:30 p.m.

For those planning to claim a spot on the beach early, be mindful of the tides and avoid setting up too close to the water. On Saturday, July 19, low tide is at 7:06 p.m., rising to high tide by 12:38 a.m. On Wednesday, July 23, high tide is at 7:01 p.m., and on Saturday, July 26, high tide is at 8:51 p.m. Make sure your chosen spot stays dry as the evening progresses.

As for the weather, as of the time of writing, Environment Canada’s latest seven-day forecast calls for warm, clear skies on the first night of the event. The Weather Network’s 14-day outlook suggests similar favourable conditions for the second and third nights, although this longer-range forecast is less reliable. The forecast is, of course, subject to change closer to the dates.

Another key difference for the 2025 fireworks show are the competitors involved. As announced earlier this year, instead of an international fireworks competition with three countries, organizers are staging a three-night, all-Canadian duel between two provinces and one territory.

With an all-Canadian lineup, the 33rd annual fireworks competition in Vancouver promises to be a truly unique showcase unlike any before it.

Midnight Sun Fireworks, representing the Yukon, will kick off the 2025 fireworks competition on Saturday, July 19. The team is a recent returning champion, having won the Honda Celebration of Light title in 2022.

This will be followed by Royal Pyrotechnie, representing Quebec, on Wednesday, July 23, and Fireworks FX, representing Nova Scotia, on Saturday, July 26.

In addition to the nightly drone shows, there will be a Canadian Forces Snowbirds Air Show for the first two nights only — Saturday, July 19 and Wednesday, July 23. This grandiose air show will take place approximately mid-evening, well before sunset. The Red Bull Air Show will not return this year.

snowbirds

Canadian Forces Snowbirds over Vancouver. (@the11jet/TikTok)

For a more optimal and comfortable experience, the 2025 Honda Celebration of Light will bring back two premium viewing areas at English Bay Beach — Inukshuk Point, and the expanded Concord Pacific Grandstand. Tickets for these viewing areas can be purchased online at the event’s website.

The popular 50/50 raffle will also return this summer to help raise funds for the event’s continuation.

Honda Celebration of Light fireworks 2025

  • Schedule and provinces:
    • Saturday, July 19: Yukon – Team Midnight Sun
      • With pre-fireworks Snowbirds Air Show and BC Honda Dealers Drone Show
    • Wednesday, July 23: Quebec – Team Royal Pyrotechnie
      • With pre-fireworks Snowbirds Air Show and BC Honda Dealers Drone Show
    • Saturday, July 26: Nova Scotia – Team Fireworks FX
      • With BC Honda Dealers Drone Show
  • Nightly schedule:
    • CF Snowbirds Air Show: Mid-evening on July 19 and 23
    • BC Honda Dealers Drone Show: 10 p.m. on July 19, 23, and 26
    • Fireworks: 10:15 p.m., rain or shine. Music simulcasts can be heard on radio station CFMI Rock 101.
  • Location: English Bay, Vancouver

Daily Hive is a proud media partner of the
2025 Honda Celebration of Light

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