Vancouver city council has voted to hold a one-night fireworks display this summer—a move supporters described as a modest investment to save a beloved tradition and opponents characterized as a questionable expense and political ploy. Mayor Ken Sim brought the motion to Wednesday’s meeting, introducing the plan to spend $2 million to hold an August event to fill the “gap” left by the cancellation of the Celebration of Light. “This one’s deeply personal,” Sim said, adding that when he was a child, his family struggled financially, and that he has fond memories of enjoying the city’s free community events. “Unfortunately, my family’s story is becoming an increasingly common story in our city, in our province and in our country. And so, at a time when major events are increasingly expensive, losing one of our few large free summer events is a real loss for the city.” Before the Celebration of Light was called off, with organizers saying it was no longer financially viable, the city had budgeted $1.4 million for 2026—as it had in previous years when the event took place. Given that, Sim and his ABC majority said the $2 million price tag will only mean an additional budget allocation of $600,000. ABC Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung said the dollar amount “isn’t really a significant amount of incremental.” She also stressed the 2026 event is only meant to be a one-year, city-funded stopgap while other options are explored to bring the Celebration of Light back in the future. “This is about a laser focus for delivering this event in 2026 and delivering one night of fireworks in the height of summer for Vancouverites that love that. I think people need to have a little bit of hope in times of (un)affordability,” she said, adding that supporting the motion sent a message to constituents. “Our beloved Vancouver traditions—we are fighting for them, and we’re not quietly just sort of letting them slip away.” Green Coun. Pete Fry, who recently announced he is challenging Sim for the city’s top job, had a very different perspective. He said the mayor’s motion was an ill-conceived “Hail Mary” in the lead-up to this year’s election, arguing there was no clear business plan for the 2026 event and no realistic path forward for the Celebration of Light’s return—likening it to the “bread and circuses” approach to governing favoured by Roman emperors. Further, Fry questioned the expense in the broader context of the city’s 2026 budget, which delivered a zero per cent property tax increase while directing staff to make roughly $120 million in cuts. “We’re talking about the allocation of $2 million at a time when this council has talked about a ‘zero means zero’ austerity budget. We are letting go hundreds of city staff,” Fry said. “I don’t think it’s responsible or consistent with what’s been spoken about in these chambers.” Kirby-Yung, in response, said she was shocked by the opposition to the proposal, likening opponents to Ebeneezer Scrooge. “I’m hoping that, you know, people wake up and realize that this is just something that brings people joy. It makes them smile,” she said. “You cannot put a price on how beloved this event is,” she added. Sim also argued the city has been fiscally prudent on his watch, meaning there is more funding available to dip into under extenuating circumstances. “We built up our reserves for a rainy day. Well, the day’s rainy today,” he said. COPE Coun. Sean Orr joined Fry in voting against the motion, also questioning why city funding would be allocated to the event in the context of the 2026 budget—describing it as spending “two million dollars for one hour.” He also suggested finding a private wealthy donor to “chip in” might have been a better approach to coming up with the money—a seemingly pointed reference to Vancouver billionaire Chip Wilson. “Considering the financial reality of the city, and that I don’t know any millionaires, I don’t think I can support,” Orr said. OneCity Coun. Lucy Maloney also voted against the motion, while also making it clear she is not opposed to “creating and investing in opportunities to create joy and happiness and social connection in our city.” The motion passed with the ABC majority in favour and directs staff to come back with a plan for the event before the end of this quarter.
