Who was it that said “you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone” Joni Mitchell? Well, sometimes it’s just as easy as “you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s threatened.”

I’ve been ambivalent about the fireworks competition for a while now. This year, there was a real chance that it’ll be cancelled, which isn’t exactly new – every year for as long as I’ve been here, they threaten to cancel it for financial reasons and then miraculously find a sponsor who saves the festival just in the nick of time.

It didn’t look like a saviour would emerge this year, so after 18 successive years of fireworks, the Celebration of Lights was officially cancelled and we all moved on. I don’t know how it happened but I felt a little sad that it was gone.

I thought about the massive crowds, the noise, the party atmosphere and then it hit me…. the fireworks is part of what makes summer in the city great!

It’s partly the reason why I don’t mind staying in the city for summer. It’s a nice change; it brings people together and livens up the neighbourhood.

Of course, new sponsors were found and the festival was un-cancelled.

The first night when the West End started filling up with people, and residents watched on with trepidation, I looked at the makeshift fences erected to protect gardens, guards in front of buildings then those mixed feelings started creeping up.

I headed out to English Bay with my camera; hoping to capture the some of images that makes this festival awesome.

It’s so much more than just fireworks.

It was sunny and hot, the water was warm. I’m sure these girls don’t really mean to drown their sister.

The girl with the cute pink “Parisien” parasol managed to eat her ice cream, be on the phone and kept cool under the shades.

On firework days most folks come early and make a nice picnic out of it.

Some families come in the morning and make a whole day out of it.

Hopefully the guys working on this ship enjoyed the show too.

Sometimes waiting is the hardest.

And sometimes laughter makes waiting for the fireworks to start bearable.

Sometimes with so many people, finding your party is hard.

Everyone has a favourite viewing spot, and we’re all convinced it’s the best.

It’s a magical place where kids get their faces painted, and play with rainbows and unicorns .

Men bring flowers,

and everything funny.

Of course, the these guys were on hand to keep the peace, half a million people descended on us after all.

Visit my flickr Celebration of Lights set for more fireworks fun photos & videos.