Celebration of Light organizers outline safety precautions following Lapu Lapu attack

CTV News

2 days ago

Fireworks explode behind the downtown Vancouver skyline as a pyrotechnic team from Croatia closes out the final night of the Honda Celebration of Light, in Vancouver, on Saturday Aug. 3, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Organizers and police are stressing security precautions are in place ahead of this year's Celebration of Light fireworks competition in Vancouver, which comes less than three months after a car ramming attack at the Lapu Lapu festival which left 11 people dead, and many others hurt.
'We've been doing heavy vehicle barriers and other mitigation measures for many years,' said Paul Runnals, the event's executive producer. 'It's not new to us. We're enhancing it this year based on the learnings from April, but really, it's an extension of what we've been doing for a long time.'
There will be an additional 400 officers working on nights of the fireworks shows and steel barriers will be placed to protect the most crowded areas from vehicles.
While police say they factored the events of the attack into their preparations, they insist there have been exhaustive safety plans in place well before the Lapu Lapu tragedy.
'The horrific events, the mass murder at the Lapu Lapu festival, certainly colours all of our decisions and informs all of our decisions moving forward, but it's important to remember that we have already collectively implemented significant safety measures,' said Sgt. Steve Addison with the Vancouver Police Department.
Instead of the usual international competition, this year's shows will feature pyrotechnic teams from the Yukon, Quebec and Nova Scotia.
A show of Canadian pride reflecting the burst of patriotism seen in recent months amid a trade war with the U.S.
'The world is a funny place right now and although the history of this event has always been international teams, we felt this year, with the rising patriotism, we wanted to reflect that in our team selections,' said Runnals.
Each night will also feature a pre-fireworks show with 400 drones – double the amount used in last year's drone show.
'We're going to launch the drones from over by the Second Beach pool and they will sort of travel over towards the English Bay area near to the barges and do a sequence of choreographed movements,' explained Runnals.
Beyond the fireworks, the shows on July 19 and 23 will also feature an airshow from the Snowbirds.