Expect more security and road barriers for Honda Celebration of Light fireworks

Public safety is always a top priority for Vancouver’s annual Honda Celebration of Light fireworks festival — and even more so this year.

Measures are being ramped up for the 2025 fireworks event, especially after the deadly Lapu Lapu Day block party tragedy this past spring, when a vehicle rammed into a crowd.

Typically, barricades for road closures to support Vancouver events involve the use of parked vehicles — including City dump trucks and police patrol cars — to prevent vehicles from entering an area with large crowds.

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Sgt. Steve Addison with the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) told media this week that concrete blocks will be used to protect all access points onto Denman Street between Robson Street and Davie Street, given that Denman Street is a key route for the crowds flowing in and out of the viewing zone at English Bay Beach.

In addition to concrete blocks, 700-pound Meridian Archer vehicle barriers — made of steel and designed for rapid deployment — will also be used. This new equipment was recently added to the VPD’s public safety toolkit.

For each of the three 2025 fireworks nights — July 19 (Saturday), July 23, (Wednesday), and July 26 (Saturday) — there will be full road closures from 6 p.m. to midnight within downtown Vancouver’s West End, along Beach Avenue/Pacific Street between Stanley Park and Thurlow Street, David Street between Denman Street and Burrard Street, and Denman Street between Alberni Street and Beach Avenue. Vehicle access for West End residents will be retained at select locations.

At the south side of English Bay, Kitsilano Point (Kits Point) — the area of the Kitsilano neighbourhood north of Cornwall Avenue — will see full road closures each evening, starting at 7 p.m.

“Every year, we have people who are coming down or trying to get into the closure in vehicles. We just can’t accommodate that because of the sheer number of people down there, so we will be turning people away,” said Addison.

“We ask people who are coming down, if you’re coming down to spend the day, if you’re coming down to enjoy the fireworks, if you’re coming down to meet up with people, please leave your car somewhere else. Consider walking, consider taking public transit, [and] find a way to get in there without your vehicle.”

Road closures map in the downtown Vancouver peninsula for the 2025 Honda Celebration of Light fireworks. (City of Vancouver)

In addition to more road barriers, the VPD will deploy over 400 additional officers to support the public safety and security needs of the Honda Celebration of Light — on top of the number of regular duty officers who are policing throughout Vancouver.

Addison says a highly visible police presence can be expected across the downtown Vancouver peninsula, especially in the West End, as well as Kitsilano Point.  This includes the specially trained officers in the public safety unit, the gang crime unit, and the youth squad, as well as officers on gator utility vehicles, bicycles, motorcycles, and horseback.

“All of our officers will be out highly visible wearing high visibility vests, interacting with community members, providing deterrence to crime and disorder and responding quickly in the event that we’re needed,” he said.

At SkyTrain stations and other public transit hubs in downtown Vancouver, additional Transit Police, Transit Security, and SkyTrain attendants will also be deployed.

Security plans for the Honda Celebration of Light and other events have been refined following the Lapu Lapu Day incident.

“This is without a doubt our biggest police deployment of the year. We have operational plans put in place that have been developed over many weeks and many months, and approved at the highest levels of our police department,” continued Addison.

“We do that to make sure that we’ve got you covered on land, on the water, and in the air, so that you can come down with your friends, with your family, have a good time, have a safe time, and know that we have your back.”

The Honda Celebration of Light is not only one of Vancouver’s longest-running public events, but also the largest, with upwards of 500,000 spectators per night watching the fireworks from the beaches and parks surrounding English Bay.

On the water, there are as many as 1,000 boats each night. Boaters are reminded of slow speed limits of up to five knots (9.26 km/h) and the 200-metre exclusion/fallout zone around the fireworks barge in the middle of English Bay.

The 2022 winning team of Midnight Sun Fireworks will return and kick off this year’s event on July 19, representing Team Yukon. This will be followed by Royal Pyrotechnie, representing Team Quebec, on July 23, and Fireworks FX, representing Team Nova Scotia, on the final night of July 26. The winning team will be announced the following week after the last show.

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

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