February 13, 2010 | 2010 Olympics >
Vancouver, Festivals & Events
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Avoiding steep ticket prices to the Vancouver Winter Olympic Opening Ceremony in BC Place, my friends and I joined the majority of Vancouverites and visitors on the streets. Every bar, restaurant and Olympic Pavilion seemed to be showing the ceremony on big TV screens. Livecity Yaletown in David Lam Park was at capacity so we caught the athletes’ entrances, Nelly Furtado performing with Bryan Adams and more on TV at The Hub bar before heading down to False Creek. Across the water, the Athletes’ Village and Vancouver’s globe-shaped Science World were gloriously lit up.
As we passed the backstage area of BC Place, dancers still in costume were streaming out ready to party. A surreal case of art and reality colliding. After stopping for a curry at the Plaza of Nations food stalls, we continued along False Creek to Ontario House at Concord Place. Unforgettable ‘wow’ moments followed as, on the huge outdoor screens we watched Wayne Gretzky light the Olympic cauldron, just as to our left, an enormous burst of red fireworks exploded into the night sky above BC Place. Quite literally, the city went wild.