<<Seems like a lot of hoopla for a 30 minute fireworks show..>>

Yes it *is* a lot of hoopla for what I find are generally underwhelming fireworks-I mean how many times can you watch something go up and go BOOM?

People here love them though and if you're going expect to be fighting crowds for hours no matter where you are.

You can just walk to the beach at English Bay and sit down. Or you can watch from the Kitsilano side. There is a little stage called the Kitsilano Showboat that often has shows the evening of the fireworks, and then plays the music over their speakers when the fireworks start.

It is a bit of a hoopla and here are tons of people on bith side of the water, but it is a fun evening.

tons of people = 200,000 or so all around the bay.

Is it worth it?

Well, is anything, really, when it comes right down to it? They are fireworks. If you love fireworks (and I do), then it's worth it. I've never watched them from the downtown side as I am NOT a fan of crowds and the images I see on the news suggest that I would hate it. Plus we drive in from the suburbs, so getting out to get home again would be a nightmare. We always watch from the Kitsilano side.

I find it a lot of fun. I usually sit there all day with friends, we make a picnic lunch and claim our spot early in the day just in from of the Sylvia hotel. We sit and play board games or card games pretty much all day. Its a tradition and its always one of the highlights of my summer.

It may only be 30 minutes, but it is always really good.

I'd just show up half an hour before. They fence off a viewing area on the beach, but it's tiny - that's the only place where you can pay. 99% of the rest of the area is free viewing. To avoid the canned-sardine feeling of the beach, I recommend sitting down on the lawns along Beach Avenue (by Bidwell). Often there's breathing room and plenty of space. You're across the street from the beach, but it's an unobstructed view.

English Bay is the best place to view the fireworks if you're going to make the effort to come down and see them. They are set up on a barge that faces the beach and there are often pyrotechnical displays (cascading waterfalls of light) which can only be seen from English Bay, which you miss from other vantage points.