VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Maybe it’s because it was a Wednesday and maybe it’s because there an air quality advisory in place, but fewer people turned out for last night’s Celebration of Light.
An estimated 200,000 people found spots around English Bay for the show put on by Team UK.
The beach is filling up! Pls refrain from drinking alcohol or smoking (ANYTHING) on the beach or in any public place.
#VPD #CelebOfLight pic.twitter.com/6b0w6gGglh
— Vancouver Police (@VancouverPD) August 3, 2017
There were no major incidents but police say there were 30 liquor pour-outs, a couple of disturbance arrests and one person had his pot taken away.
Constable Jason Doucette says this is a good example of police taking the right approach to dealing with crowds. “We look back at what’s worked in the past, what we can improve upon and then we just build upon that. We look at what other people are doing in other areas and jurisdictions and whatever we’re doing seems to be working up until this point, but we’re never standing still — we’re always willing to learn.”
Overall, he adds the crowds were well behaved.
The Canadian team will close out the Celebration of Light on Saturday night and it’s expected to be a huge draw. “We prepare for each night and we anticipate crowds, we anticipate various things and crowd size, weather, it’s the weekend — those things all come into play. We are asking people to still plan ahead, give themselves lots of time to get down there and lots of time to get home,” adds Doucette.
A reminder ahead of Saturday’s event — there is no smoking in parks or on the beach, if caught it could be a $250 fine. You can’t fly drones in the area. The force is also pleading with people to leave their liquor at home, or again, face a $230 fine.