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< JUL 30 2010 > |
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Your Ideas on Raising Vancouver's Spirit Vancouver HAD spirit. How do we get it back? Send your ideas to spirit@boardoftrade.com. Here are your ideas... "I believe that the idea of a "Vancouver Hall of Fame" could become a central agency to celebrate our past and present in order to find our future. It is a celebration of high achievement in any field (business, culture, sports, science, etc.). "
"My suggestion is that you create a competition for outdoor umbrellas. The perfect symbol: great restaurants, mild weather we can eat outdoors, umbrellas come in handy. Have Evian, Clearly Canadian and all the other typical sponsors of umbrellas participate in this competition. The competition would be for artists to design the most fantastic outdoor umbrellas. They would be on display at outdoor cafes, restaurants, etc. and people could go online and vote for their favourite designs. The trim would be the sponsors logo, and the designs would celebrate the spirit of the city with some tie in to the sponsor. The sponsors would subsidize or giveaway the umbrellas for outdoor cafes. A cafe would only get one design. All restaurants and cafes using umbrellas would be featured on the Spirit of Vancouver web site, with map. The winning design at the end of the summer would be made into an umbrella that would be for sale."
"Two thing that really got the public out in Edmonton were: a) In the spring, a flyer was mailed to the people of the festival and cultural events for the coming year. It's easy to miss what you don't know about, especially with so many people moving into and out of Vancouver every year b) A lot of events had affordable fees. For example, the Heritage Day's festival was in a big park with park-and-ride bussing (because it got so big). Various ethnic groups living in Edmonton would put up small vending stalls and supply their ethnic food for others to taste. You could spend a fortune on gifts, knick-knacks and food or you could spend very little. Either way, you could attend. The Fringe Festival is a huge hit. Again, this one caters to different levels of income. I've never been to Edmonton's First Night festival, but it's a huge hit. They've got to be doing something right since it's an outdoor festival when the temperature can be anywhere from -10 to -35 degrees celsius."
E-mail your comments. The results expressed here are members' opinions and The Board's new task force is ready to revitalize Vancouver's spirit.
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Copyright 1999-2009 The Vancouver Board of Trade. All Rights Reserved |
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"As a former Torontonian, I do miss many of the great festivals held in the summertime, notably Caravan and Caribana. Caravan is held over a one to two-week period and to enjoy it fully you buy a 'Passport' for minimal charge and you then get it stamped as you visit any number of cultural gateway pavilions that exist throughout the city. Each pavilion has plenty of dancing, food, art, storytelling, acting, costumes and crafts that are native to that particular ethnic group... so it encourages both tourists and native city dwellers to explore different parts of the city which they otherwise don't. Another great example of this is Caribana, which has AWESOME parade of floats, gorgeous costumes and a great party afterward on Center Island. My question is: why can't we bring something similar here? (Sorry folks, the small Caribbean festival held each summer in North Vancouver near the Lonsdale near the Lonsdale Quay is nothing at all similar in scope and energy."
"Although I live on the North Shore, the various events that happen in the City of Vancouver are a source of pride to me and all of us that live in the Greater Vancouver area. It seems that many of the events that I enjoyed, such as the Sea Festival, has disappeared. Why? In reading some of the good suggestions I thought I could add a few of my own.
"With all this talk about how boring Vancouver has become, I can't believe no one has mentioned our own homegrown fire festival and the people who make it happen. I'm talking about Illuminaires which is put on by the Public Dreams Society. In case you have not heard (or been), Illuminaires is a lantern festival that takes place at Trout Lake Park. You don't just watch. You can buy a lantern or make one at home or at the workshops the society puts on in the week before the event. Everyone parades around the lake checking out the action—people in costumes, people playing music, juggling fire, etc. This usually takes place on a fireworks night and is way more fun, not to mention the fact that it is a local volunteer driven participative event rather than an 'international' corporate sponsored passive (sit and look) event. If we want Vancouver to be "more fun", I think we need more events of this type. I don't think it's Vancouver that's boring. I think it's the globalist 21st century that's boring."
