Expect big set pieces for volunteer Yukon team's Celebration of Light fireworks | Daily Hive

Expect big set pieces for volunteer-based Yukon team's return to Honda Celebration of Light fireworks

Team Yukon's preparations for the Honda Celebration of Light fireworks, as seen on July 18, 2025. (Kenneth Chan)

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A volunteer-run pyrotechnics team from Canada’s far north is returning to Vancouver with an ocean-inspired show to open the 33rd annual Honda Celebration of Light fireworks competition.

Midnight Sun Fireworks, a husband-and-wife-led creative team based in Whitehorse, will represent Team Yukon this Saturday, July 19, 2025.

They are the first of three all-Canadian competitors in this year’s historically unique fireworks festival lineup, and they are no strangers to the local spotlight — in 2022, the group, representing Team Canada and led by co-producers Warren Zakus and Kiara Adams, stunned crowds and judges alike to take home the winning title.

“As a small team from the Yukon, we were absolutely thrilled just to be invited to participate. Winning on top of that was truly incredible. We learned a lot about what works well on the barge and used that insight to refine our design for this year’s show,” Adams told Daily Hive this week.

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“We adjusted some of our timing, and we carefully noted the audience’s reactions to different parts of the 2022 performance, which definitely influenced this year’s design,” continued Adams.

honda celebration of light vancouver fireworks barge 2025 yukon

Midnight Sun Fireworks co-producers Kiara Adams and Warren Zakus; Team Yukon’s preparations for the Honda Celebration of Light fireworks, as seen on July 18, 2025. (Kenneth Chan)

Team Yukon’s preparations for the Honda Celebration of Light fireworks, as seen on July 18, 2025. (Kenneth Chan)

Since 2022, they have continued their annual pyromusical shows for the Yukon Rendezvous Festival and Whitehorse’s New Year’s Eve celebrations. In 2023, they experimented with mixed media for the first time, incorporating LED-illuminated set pieces synchronized with the music alongside the fireworks.

Theme of “20,000 Leagues Under English Bay”

For their performance this Saturday in Vancouver, Team Yukon’s show carries the theme of “20,000 Leagues Under English Bay,” drawing inspiration from the event’s nautical venue.

The soundtrack will feature a mix of dramatic and playful music, including three tracks by Canadian artists and a tribute to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

Longtime favourites “9 to 5” by Dolly Parton and “Papa Loves Mambo” by Perry Como — songs that have been on the team’s wish list for years — are also part of the lineup.

In fact, shape-based pyrotechnic set pieces built on the barge will help drive this theme, such as a 35-ft-tall robot for the segment synchronized to “Mr. Roboto” by Styx and a 30-ft-tall bicycle for “Bicycle Race” by Queen. There are also giant squids — inspired by the film, “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” — as well as hidden gems throughout the show.

Team Yukon’s preparations for the Honda Celebration of Light fireworks, as seen on July 18, 2025. (Kenneth Chan)

In 2022, the team’s set pieces on the barge that depicted a pirate ship “battle” stunned crowds.

“We’re incredibly excited about this year’s show. Our set piece is going to be spectacular, and the overall show design is a true refinement of everything we’ve learned over 10 years of pyromusical creation,” Zakus told Daily Hive, noting that “designing shows is something we do purely out of passion.”

Adams added, “Our design style is also distinct — largely self-taught and developed through trial and error, which gives it a grassroots and authentic feel. We’re known for incorporating large, elaborate set pieces into our shows; every pyromusical we’ve done has featured at least one.” Sometimes, even their kids help the creative process.

Set pieces are rarely used in the Honda Celebration of Light, and the Yukon show will be the only fireworks display this year to feature them.

Tonight’s Honda Celebration of Light by Team Canada 🇨🇦 even had a “Pirates of the Caribbean” ship battle! #CelebOfLight pic.twitter.com/xOz5vADMRa

— Kenneth Chan (@iamkennethchan) July 28, 2022

All three fireworks shows will last 25 minutes as usual, but the start time for 2025 has been pushed to 10:15 p.m., as opposed to the earlier 10 p.m. ignition in previous years.

This 15-minute later start time allows for an enhanced viewing experience against a darker twilight backdrop — not only for the fireworks, but also for the BC Honda Dealers Drone Show. Featuring 400 drones, this pre-show for all three nights will begin at 10 p.m. and run for 15 minutes each night, leading right into the start of the fireworks. For the two nights of July 19 and 23 only, there will also be the pre-fireworks entertainment of the Canadian Forces Snowbirds Air Show, which will take to the skies mid-evening, long before sunset.

As of now, following the recent hot weather, comparatively cooler temperatures are forecast for Saturday. While there is a chance of some precipitation and cloud cover earlier in the day, conditions are expected to improve, with skies clearing by evening. Temperatures are projected to be around 17°C at the time of the fireworks.

“Our team is also incredibly resilient — we’ve worked in conditions ranging from -40°C to +35°C. ‘The show must go on’ is definitely one of our mottos,” continued Adams.

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.

Following Team Yukon’s performance, Royal Pyrotechnie, representing Team Quebec, will take to the skies on Wednesday, July 23, followed by Fireworks FX, representing Team Nova Scotia, for the final show on Saturday, July 26.

Archangel Fireworks president Kelly Guille; Team Yukon’s preparations for the Honda Celebration of Light fireworks, as seen on July 18, 2025. (Kenneth Chan)

Team Yukon’s preparations for the Honda Celebration of Light fireworks, as seen on July 18, 2025. (Kenneth Chan)

Kelly Guille, the president of Winnipeg-based Archangel Fireworks and the fireworks director of the Honda Celebration of Light, says he was given a direction by event producer BrandLive to change up the typical international competition format into an all-Canadian duel.

“Politically, Canada Strong and everything else made a lot of sense,” Guille told Daily Hive, noting that there is typically very significant interest from numerous Canadian pyrotechnic companies to represent Team Canada at the Honda Celebration of Light.

“There are so many companies that say, ‘Can I be Team Canada?’ But Team Canada is only on once maybe every three years or so? This was a huge opportunity for me to be able to showcase companies that I’ve worked with across Canada, and we really have them spread out in representation — it’s coast to coast to coast.”

Every year, the three competing teams are each given a pyrotechnics product budget of approximately $150,000, and the designs of the shows are completed months in advance.

Around a dozen staff from Archangel Fireworks — the event’s official competition stager –work closely with the visiting teams, who have about three days on-site to set up their display. Immediately after the first two shows, cleanup crews work on the barge overnight to enable the next team to move in and begin preparing for their show the very next day.

Honda Celebration of Light Vancouver fireworks 2025

Schedule and provinces:
- Saturday, July 19: Team Yukon – Midnight Sun Fireworks
  - With pre-fireworks Snowbirds Air Show and BC Honda Dealers Drone Show
- Wednesday, July 23: Team Quebec – Royal Pyrotechnie
  - With pre-fireworks Snowbirds Air Show and BC Honda Dealers Drone Show
- Saturday, July 26: Team Nova Scotia – 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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