Yesterday, some residents were dismayed to learn that all Vancouver Car Free Days in 2026 were cancelled.
Now, two city councillors have brought forward a motion in an attempt to save them, while also criticizing ABC Vancouver.
In a media release from One City Vancouver, councillors Lucy Maloney and Sean Orr are bringing forward the “urgent motion” to council.
Car Free Vancouver Society announced on Monday, March 2, that it had made the “difficult decision” not to move forward with the 2026 Car Free Days.
The society revealed several reasons that the landscape for large-scale community events has been challenging.
“Rising operational costs, changes to grant funding and operational support, have moved us into an uncertain place, where the risk of proceeding at this time is too high to mitigate,” it added.
According to One City’s release, the society said that the festival was cancelled due to a budget shortfall of “just” $30,000. Orr and Maloney’s motion proposes to provide that $30,000 funding by mid-April, so that Car Free Days can go ahead this year.
Earlier this year, we learned that a one-night Vancouver fireworks event was approved with a budget of $2 million. The release from One City suggests that, assuming a 40-minute fireworks show, it constitutes an expenditure of $50,000 per minute.
“Car Free Day can be saved for under a minute’s worth of ABC’s fireworks budget,” the release says.
“COPE warned that Ken Sim’s jacked-up permit fees are going to make community events more expensive- or stop them from happening at all,” says councillor Sean Orr in the release, adding, “This is the impact of austerity. Let’s fix it.”
In the release, Maloney says that it’s “heartbreaking” that the event could be cancelled.
“The good news is, it doesn’t have to be,” she adds.
“For just $30,000, we can preserve a cultural institution that brings joy to tens of thousands and brings in a tremendous amount of business and spending to Commercial Drive and Main Street. Saving Car Free Day just makes sense. Let’s see if ABC agrees.”
Maloney had moved an amendment to reallocate that $2-million fireworks funding to community festivals like Car Free Day, to “ensure they can remain financially sustainable in an environment with rising costs and FIFA-related disruptions.”
ABC voted that amendment down.
The motion will be presented to Vancouver City Council on March 10, which could determine the fate of Car Free Days this year.
With files from Daniel Chai