Last night the West End was invaded.
From the hotels on Robson, from the suburbs, from the SkyTrain and the buses, they came through here in their thousands, on their way down to English Bay to find the best spot from which to watch the first evening of the annual Celebration of Light fireworks.
The City tries to mitigate the impact on the West End by blocking the streets to all but local traffic and by increasing the number of police. But there's still a huge impact on the neighbourhood. Gardens are trampled, litter is strewn everywhere, yahoos continue shouting and fighting long after the last firework has gone off. And in the morning we come out to assess the damage, try to rescue the flowers, clean up the litter.
It happens every year. Four nights of chaos and confusion, and 30 minutes of actual fireworks.
It's amazing to see so many people gathered together - to me that's more awe-inspiring than the fireworks which, begin to look the same after a while.
It was a good night for it. Warm, clear and calm. There were an estimated 350,000 people out, according to the Vancouver Sun. The show was over by about 10:30 and everybody had finally gone home by about 2:00 a.m., leaving the West End quiet again.