Vancouver trees go dark after spreading winter cheer for three decades

Daily Hive

A grove of trees near English Bay that is usually illuminated with a massive string of lights has gone unexpectedly dark this year, and local residents want answers.

The trees grow at English Bay just up from the Olympic Inukshuk at the corner of Bidwell Street and Beach Avenue. For West End resident Aviva Lacterman, seeing the display as the days grew shorter became a family tradition.

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“We always used to drive by with my young daughter over the years, and she’d say ‘Papa open the window,'” Lacterman said. “It was always a pleasure to drive at night and see it all.”

Aviva Lacterman/Submitted

Resident Michael Trew misses the lights as well, telling Daily Hive Urbanized he looks forward to them every December over the decades he’s lived in the West End. He’s asked the City of Vancouver and the Park Board what happened, but hasn’t got an answer yet.

“It stands out this time of year and provides a source of light. It’s kind of inspiring, when it’s such a dull and dreary climate this time of year,” he said. “They’ve done it every year for 30 years, I don’t know why they would stop.”

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A set of plaques call the installation Lights for Life, and say it’s in celebration of Vancouver’s longest-serving park commissioner George Wainborn. The installation was made possible by artist Joe Average, Noma Lights, the Vancouver Park Board, and the Friends for Life Society. The plaques are dated 1992 and 1995 — suggesting the trees have been lit for three decades.

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There are still lights strung up in the branches, but there’s no word on why they’re not illuminated. Daily Hive Urbanized has reached out to the Park Board for more information.

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Multiple West End residents have emailed Daily Hive Urbanized to ask why the trees went dark, and Lacterman is also confused. She’s sorry to miss the bright spot during a gloomy time of year.

“To see those lights it just gives me a sense of hope and warmth and peace,” she said. “I think [the tree] has the three primary colours, but when you look at it you can see magenta, purple, these other hues ’cause it’s all mixed together. It’s amazing.”