Vancouver will be getting its annual summer fireworks celebration, but not in the form of the Honda Celebration of Light. Although it was cancelled due to a lack of funding, the city isn’t quite ready to give up the yearly tradition.
The Vancouver Park Board commissioners have recently voted to further planning on Mayor Ken Sim’s proposed one-night fireworks event coming this summer.
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Celebration of Light Cancellation
It was announced in November 2025 that the Honda Celebration of Light fireworks event would be cancelled indefinitely. The decision came after many months of outreach to governments and the business community by the Vancouver Fireworks Festival Society (VFFS).
Originally known as the Symphony of Fire, the Honda Celebration of Light first got its start in 1990. Since then, it grew and expanded into the “longest running off-shore festival in the world.” While it was a huge driver of B.C.’s summer tourism, its rising costs became far too much for the event to continue operating.
In a press release, the VFFS said, “it can no longer continue to go ‘cap in hand’ each year to keep the event afloat.” This was amid rising production costs, a decrease in federal funding and provincial support, as well as private-sector investment. The event became financially unsustainable, so much so that it could not happen for another year.
A New Fireworks Show in Vancouver
In the months following the announcement, the City approved a one-night fireworks show, which was proposed by Sim. While the event’s date has yet to be finalized, it will happen sometime in August 2026 around English Bay.
Notably, it also has a budget of up to $2 million in city funds. $1.4 million was reportedly already allocated in the 2026 budget for in-kind costs that previously supported the Celebration of Light, which are now being used for the new event. An extra $600,000 was approved by City Council, coming from the City’s contingency reserve.
The new event will lack some of the longstanding fixtures that people know from the Celebration of Light. Most prominently, there will be no grandstand seating along English Bay or private luxury suites. There will also be no drone show or installations in nearby parks, although food trucks will be there.
