City announces road closures in Kitsilano and West End for Celebration of Light and Pride Parade

The City of Vancouver has announced road closures for the Clelebration of Light and Pride Parade special events.

The three nights of the Honda Celebration of Light fireworks displays—this Saturday (July 23), July 27, and July 30—will see tens of thousands of spectators in the West End and Kits Point areas.

Morning road closures (9 a.m. to 7 p.m., all three days): Beach Avenue, from Davie Street to Pacific Street.

Evening road closures (7 p.m. to midnight, all three days): Davie from Burrard Street to Denman Street; Denman from Alberni Street to Beach; and Beach/Pacific from Thurlow Street to Stanley Park.

Vehicle access to Kits Point and much of the West End will be limited to local residents with parking stickers or those with a vehicle registration bearing a local address. The city recommends that spectators for these special events take transit, cycle, or walk to the attractions.

Local traffic access: for the West End, enter at either Denman off West Georgia Street or Burnaby Street; exit at either Denman at West Georgia or via Nelson, Thurlow, or Burnaby streets. For Kits Point, there is local access only for north of Cornwall Street from Chestnut Street to Arbutus Street.

The Vancouver Pride Parade, now in its 44th year, will take place next Sunday (July 31), from noon to 3 p.m.

Morning and afternoon road closures (7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.): Thurlow Street from West Georgia to Nelson; Alberni from Bute Street to Burrard; Robson Street from Denman to Burrard; Denman from West Georgia to Beach; and Beach/Pacific from Denman to Thurlow.

The city asks cyclists to please walk their bikes through crowds as people arrive.

Local traffic access: for the West End, exit via Beach eastbound until noon (VPD assist) or by Nelson, Comox; Thurlow, Harwood, or Burnaby streets; enter via Davie, Harwood, or Burnaby streets.

The city also asked attendees to follow the following rules to enable the events to progress smoothly (reproduced below in full from a July 22 city bulletin):

• Protect yourself during hot weather, for tips to stay safe in the heat, visit vancouver.ca/hotweather.
• Walk, bike, roll, or take transit whenever possible.
• Stay ahead of road closures at vancouver.ca/road-closures.
• Be aware of fireworks viewing point markers, especially those marking the high tide points along the beach.
• Don’t let waste become litter: put waste in its place. Walk, bike or roll with waste to the nearest garbage, recycling or organics bin.
• Avoid single-use items and bring reusable water bottles, travel mugs, cutlery and containers.
• Use the “Pack-In, Pack-Out” method, especially for large gatherings. Group gatherings often result in excess waste and can quickly overfill waste. bins. Bring waste home with you to properly sort and dispose of.
• Be considerate of the community and keep noise to a minimum when leaving evening events.
• Respect the no smoking ban in Vancouver parks and refrain from using barbeques.
• Follow safe boating guidelines and carry your boating license with you at all times if you are watching the fireworks from the water
• Leave your pets at home. Fireworks and large crowds can be very frightening for animals. If you choose to bring your dog with you, make sure it’s wearing proper identification: 97 percent of dogs that are licensed and wearing tags are returned to their owner. If your dog gets lost, phone 3-1-1 to inform Animal Services.