Vancouver's VanDusen Gardens and Capilano Suspension Bridge" light" up for the holidays

by Keith and Heather Nicol

    Vancouver has some fine displays of lights for the holiday season and if you have never been to the Festival of Lights at the VanDusen Botanical Gardens then you are in for a big treat. This year is the 30 ^th anniversary for this seasonal event which runs until January 4, 2015. There are over 1,000,000 lights on display and you need a programme for all of the other performances that are taking place as well. We took in a few and we really enjoyed  the dancing lights show on Livingstone Lake . Strolling along many of the themed walks like the Gingerbread Wood and Candy Cane Lane make this truly a family event which is suited to people of all ages. Our suggestions are to bring a tripod so that you can do some time exposures of the lights and print the progamme ahead of time so that you know in advance when and where the various performances are taking place. For more information see: http://vancouver.ca/parks-recreation-culture/festival-of-lights.aspx

The lights at the VanDusen Gardens are amazing!

  The  next night we headed  to the Capilano Suspension bridge to see their Canyon Lights display. They have decorated the world’s tallest Christmas tree at over 150 feet and lit up the suspension bridge as well as many of their other adventures like the Cliffwalk and Tree Top Adventures. We also enjoyed listening and singing along with the carols at the Trading Post. Again we suggest that you bring along a tripod to capture the lights. Although we went around 6:00 pm if you want to actually see the Capilano River and see  how high above the ground you are on the Cliffwalk you might want to head over just before sunset.  That way you can see both the dramatic views and the lights. The Canyon Lights display continues until January 3, 2015. Since the weather forecast is looking good for the next week or so there are still many nights left to enjoy it. For more information see: http://www.capbridge.com/ 

You can join in singing some holiday music at the Capilano Suspension Brdige