Car Free Day Vancouver is a community-based, volunteer run event in Vancouver, British Columbia, which closes busy streets to car traffic and sets up day long community festivals to promote walking and reduce the use of cars. It is similar to other Car-Free Days held around the world. It takes place once every year and lasts for one day in the summer. The neighbourhoods involved often host smaller block parties in conjunction with a large street festival to celebrate. This day reduces the local use of cars and encourages people in these communities to interact with each other in the spirit of reducing carbon emissions. The larger street festivals include various businesses, non-profit organizations, food vendors, and artisans to contribute to the day's activities. Some festivals also include live performances ranging from musical guests, to spoken word, to dance and more. The goal of these events is to remind people of their ecological impact on the city and to decrease the dependence on personal vehicles as transportation within the city. [1]
History edit
Vancouver Car Free Day began with the Commercial Drive Festival in 2005. The Festival was the start of a community wide event known as Car Free Day Vancouver. It was run and organized completely by volunteers, consisting of 30 main organizers along with 300 more volunteers. In its first year of operation, over 25,000 people were in attendance to celebrate this community event. The idea was in response to the BC provincial government’s Gateway Program. The Gateway Program aimed to significantly reduce congestion in to the City of Vancouver. The first annual Car Free Vancouver Day took place in 2005, on Sunday June 15th, and included different festivals taking place in Kitsilano, Commercial Drive, Main Street, and the West End [1]
Neighbourhood Involvement edit
There are four neighbourhoods that participate in Car Free Day: Kitsilano, Main Street ,Commercial Drive and West End.
Commercial Drive is the origin of Vancouver’s Car Free Day, which first took place in 2005. The 2014 festival marks the 10th anniversary of Car Free Day on Commercial Drive. The #20 Downtown/Victoria Bus, which provides service along Commercial Drive, is rerouted from Commercial Drive around the festivities.
Main Street is closed to traffic and hosts a variety of entertainment including local artisans, musical performers, spoken word and food vendors [2]. The Main Street Car Free Day spans 21 blocks, creating car-free zones suitable for smaller block parties. In 2013, attendance at all four sites totalled 400,000 [3]
The West End holds similar events to both the Commercial Drive and Main Street Car Free Days. This event allows for the festival to overtake a main street with performances, vendors and artisans.
The community in Kitsilano takes a slightly different approach to the popular Vancouver Car Free Day. Instead of closing major streets to host the festival, the neighbours organize and host their own block parties. This gives people the chance to come together as a community and spend time interacting, playing games, and relaxing in an otherwise busy city. The activities at these block parties differ greatly since each event is entirely independent of the next, but popular choices include road hockey, music and dancing, and relaxing in chairs or on couches. In 2012 Kitsilano hosted a total of 16 block parties, followed by 13 in 2013. Kitsilano Car Free Day is supported by the Car Free Day Vancouver Society, Vancouver Foundation, and the City of Vancouver. The organizers and hosts of these block parties receive small grants given out by the Vancouver Foundation through their Neighbourhood Small Grants program.[4]
International Involvement edit
Worldwide, there are many countries which celebrate Car Free Day [5]. Organizations such as World Car Free Day provide information and guidance about hosting Car Free Day events [6]
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
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- ^ Thorkelson, Erika (2/28/2014). "Art and Music Festivals Build Communities by Hitting the Road". The Province. Retrieved 3/8/2014.
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