How Are Countries Selected for the Celebration of Light?

If you are an aspiring pyrotechnics team in a land far away dreaming of applying to compete in the Celebration of Light (Honda Celebration of Light, among friends), I’ve got terrible news for you: Vancouver’s biggest fireworks showdown is invite only. So stop paying for that expensive fireworks -competition admissions advisor. There are no essays to craft. No test to cram for. You just have to be… you. And hope that’s enough.

I know, I know: the exclusivity only makes you want it more. The Celebration is already a rare opportunity—only three countries and zero magazine editors get a chance to show their explosive talents each year. (Or, in some cases, no countries at all: in 2025, the chance to dazzle is being offered to other Canadian provinces exclusively.) So if you really want to represent one of those few featured nations, you’ll need to make it your life’s work to impress the Honda Celebration of Light Board of Shadowy Figures, because you never know when they might be watching and judging. It’s time to decide: Should you really be wasting your time coaching your daughters’ little league games? Or should you be committed to your dreams, working night after night to really nail the perfect transition between a brocade crown bouquet and a silver comet peacock? (Because we have established that you are an aspiring pyrotechnics team, I don’t need to explain to you that these are Class-B fireworks you can only get if you are a licensed professional and not a magazine editor. Duh!)

The selection committee considers many factors: How long has it been since a country competed? Does that country have a great pyro team? Who is winning international competitions? (Some things they are rudely not considering: Who has the coolest flag? Who will let me set off a firework?) If you do get tapped to join this prestigious affair, you and three of your countrymen—or countrywomen!—will come to the sandy shores of English Bay for one glorious, explosive-filled week. Here, you’ll choreograph the show of a lifetime with the help of 10 pyro experts from Vancouver’s own Archangel Fireworks. And while you’re busy doing that, I’ll be angling to get myself invited to the Archangel New Year’s party because you know those dudes are going to ring in midnight right.

Though fireworks are an ancient technology—one passed down proudly from Chinese emperors to Surrey’s most creative stepdads on Halloween—there have been some dramatic advancements over the centuries. Celebration of Light competitors program their shows using GPS to perfectly sync titanium salutes and crackle-tail-to-silver-crackling-willows to up to 25 minutes of music. A panel of honourable local judges with extensive experience in Looking Up will then judge the performance on criteria such as balance, artistry, novelty, sparkle-osity and boom-boom factor.

The Celebration of Light is the longest-running offshore fireworks competition in the world. And as you and the rest of the team reading this over your shoulder well know, winning the longest-running offshore fireworks competition in the world comes with some serious bragging rights. Think of how good it’s going to look when you update your LinkedIn with “winner of the longest-running offshore fireworks competition in the world!” Maybe your daughters will finally talk to you again! You really left them hanging last season at softball.

This Know-It-All was originally featured in the July/August 2025 print issue of Vancouver magazine. Subscribe now and get your free copy today.