new years in vancouver

[SpongeG]

don't watch the news

you don;t want to see the spectacular display London just put on as it hit midnight a few minutes ago

or the way hong kong lit up with a light show and fireworks

or taipei's dazzling show

or tokyo's exuberant crowds releasing ballons

or sydneys million dollar show of fireworks

welcome to um yah whatever

[Nutterbug]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

don't watch the news

you don;t want to see the spectacular display London just put on as it hit midnight a few minutes ago

or the way hong kong lit up with a light show and fireworks

or taipei's dazzling show

or tokyo's exuberant crowds releasing ballons

or sydneys million dollar show of fireworks

welcome to um yah whatever

A change of calendar year becomes just that...um yah whatever...once you've been through 30, 40 or 50 of them in your life. It'll even serve as a depressing reminder of your increasing age and passing life.

As for the kids, I don't know if they'd enjoy it too much if it was cold and wet outside. I think they'd rather stay inside and watch the festivities on TV.

[SpongeG]

its an excuse for people to get together and partake in the same experience though

personally i never do anything but i lament the lack of anything in the city and watching all the celebrations across the planet you would think Canada's Major west coast city would represent

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by delboy

can't say that I'm surprised....world city my arse.

... ain't it the truth. Look how easily Vancouver's "world class city" veneer and pretensions crack and peel right off, in so many situations, and in so many ways.

[delboy]

It is truly embarassing. No one is saying that we have to rival New York or London, but something, anything will do.

So much for the Olympics changing things. We went from hero to zero.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by delboy

It is truly embarassing. No one is saying that we have to rival New York or London, but something, anything will do.

So much for the Olympics changing things. We went from hero to zero.

As a taxpayer, why should I be on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars in fireworks, that go up in a couple minutes, when we have trouble finding money to keep park washrooms open?

Organizations like Public Dreams that put on public events are always looking for volunteers, donors and members. Maybe Vancouverites need to quit complaining and actually pitch in to get these things going:
http://publicdreams.org/get-involved/

Short term, there's nothing stopping people from organizing neigbourhood parties, going to a club etc.

[Canadian Mind]

Personally I appreciated a quiet New Years eve. It allowed me to get a full 8 hours sleep before I biked to work in the morning.

[delboy]

Originally Posted by whatnext

As a taxpayer, why should I be on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars in fireworks, that go up in a couple minutes, when we have trouble finding money to keep park washrooms open?

Organizations like Public Dreams that put on public events are always looking for volunteers, donors and members. Maybe Vancouverites need to quit complaining and actually pitch in to get these things going:
http://publicdreams.org/get-involved/

Short term, there's nothing stopping people from organizing neigbourhood parties, going to a club etc.

who said fireworks? There is other things that could have been done, like a free concert or something. The city could have worked with sponsers to keep costs down, and i imagine once you factor in spending in the city during the 'event' it does not have to be that costly.

yes we can entertain ourselves, which I did, but this is a vancouver forum, and are we not about making the city the best it can be? Vancouver is seriously lacking in the public events department and 'fun' in general.

As i said in an earlier post.....world class my arse.....

happy new year

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by delboy

who said fireworks? There is other things that could have been done, like a free concert or something. The city could have worked with sponsers to keep costs down, and i imagine once you factor in spending in the city during the 'event' it does not have to be that costly.

yes we can entertain ourselves, which I did, but this is a vancouver forum, and are we not about making the city the best it can be? Vancouver is seriously lacking in the public events department and 'fun' in general.

As i said in an earlier post.....world class my arse.....

happy new year

But anything on the scale of what you seem to want is going to be expensive. Finding sponsorship for large events in Vancouver is tough - look at what the Celebration of Light goes through every summer. The Greater London Authority spent about $500k on their fireworks. I believe you're paid by some level of government? So what gets cut to fund something like this - a couple officers' jobs?

I'm not trying to single you out, its a common enough opinion in Vancouver. But it seems to me folks need to put their money where there mouth is, which is why I posted the link to Public Dreams. Its like when people complain there's no culture in Vancouver, and then you ask them how much they donated to the Art Gallery, the Playhouse, the Film Festival etc - only to be met with blank stares. Governments can do things like streamline red tape for events, but I don't think they should become event producers.

[Nutterbug]

Originally Posted by whatnext

But anything on the scale of what you seem to want is going to be expensive. Finding sponsorship for large events in Vancouver is tough - look at what the Celebration of Light goes through every summer. The Greater London Authority spent about $500k on their fireworks. I believe you're paid by some level of government? So what gets cut to fund something like this - a couple officers' jobs?

I'm not trying to single you out, its a common enough opinion in Vancouver. But it seems to me folks need to put their money where there mouth is, which is why I posted the link to Public Dreams. Its like when people complain there's no culture in Vancouver, and then you ask them how much they donated to the Art Gallery, the Playhouse, the Film Festival etc - only to be met with blank stares. Governments can do things like streamline red tape for events, but I don't think they should become event producers.

Or if they ever even attend their exhibits/events.

[LotusLand]

I can't see how we can't get a few sponsors. How much would an event like this cost to put together? There co's like Telus, Lululemon, Shaw and others that have a huge presence here yet never sponsor something like this.

Here was another article out there with a lot of comments supporting the writer:

http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2010/12/vancouver-new-years-eve-fireworks-where-are-they/

[NewfBC]

Or we could be like Iceland!

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-535616?ref=feeds/oncnn

Ron.

[zivan56]

^^ And Iceland is going through a crippling financial crisis yet they still manage to find the money to invest into a better lifestyle for their people. I'm sure if we raise business taxes we could easily have tons of money to spend on actual people instead of helping corporations squeeze out 0.01% more profit at the loss of billions of tax dollars. This goes for parties, public washroom, etc...

[Nutterbug]

Originally Posted by zivan56

^^ And Iceland is going through a crippling financial crisis yet they still manage to find the money to invest into a better lifestyle for their people.

Blowing off more fireworks is your idea of "better lifestyle for the people"?

[SpongeG]

it is it makes people happy - judging by people's interviews on TV they sounded disappointed that we did nothing

[Nutterbug]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

it is it makes people happy - judging by people's interviews on TV they sounded disappointed that we did nothing

Who needs food and shelter when we've got fireworks?

[mezzanine]

IMO the big wild card for NYE events in vancouver is precipitation. It's one thing to be cold like new york and london, (and australia is warm in December), but vancouver has a good likelihood of rain at that time.

I'd rather put limited public event money into canada day in july (which amazingly, we didn't have regularly until recently) than an event in december with feast/famine chances of attendance.

And amazingly, this make me in agreement with whatnext. Who knows - with an HST, maybe we will have that extra funding for an NYE celebration...

[jlousa]

Gee I guess I live in a different Vancouver. I had my choice of a half dozen events that were of interest to me and had a very hard time deciding which one to attend, there were dozens of events last night pretty sure there was something to suit everyones need, except a free concert with fireworks.

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by Nutterbug

Who needs food and shelter when we've got fireworks?

why celebrate anything? why do we have Canada day? why a st patricks parade? why a christmas parade?

we need to feed the poor

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by jlousa

Gee I guess I live in a different Vancouver. I had my choice of a half dozen events that were of interest to me and had a very hard time deciding which one to attend, there were dozens of events last night pretty sure there was something to suit everyones need, except a free concert with fireworks.

there were dozens of choices but nothing for the general public

did u see each city as it hit midnight on CNN? people plan trips to do attend these - its great for tourism if not us

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and Vancouver gets hooligans climbing on things

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