Video: Spectacular Olympic Night Lights of Vancouver'It's been a bit of a smash hit, closing a bunch of our streets and creating this walking celebration.'
Vancouver Sun: For the past two weeks downtown Vancouver turned into a big street party as up to 150,000 people per day flooded into the core to wander around, take in the sights and check out the many cultural events. 'Downtown feels like a downtown should,' said heritage expert John Atkin. 'It's busy, it's crowded, it's active all hours of the night and everyone is having fun.'...
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson thinks one of the keys to the success one of the simplest: closing off several blocks of Granville and Robson. 'The road closures have enabled people to have the space to celebrate, to sing and dance'... The streets are animated with art, with musical acts, with street performers. The most important single factor in the vibe might be the Cultural Olympiad and the LiveCity sites... 'I stand to be corrected, but I think this is the largest arts and culture festival in Canadian history,' said Mayor Robertson...
The Cultural Olympiad was programmed by Robert Kerr, who put together a diverse program... The interesting thing about the cultural stuff is that it hasn't been mainstream. Kerr's philosophy is that people will respond to intellectually challenging music or culture, if only they get a chance to experience it... The masses have responded by coming out, and Kerr is delighted...
'I'm hoping we learn from this that we can actually do crowds. We don't need an omnipresent police [presence]'... Atkin said one of the ways the city has blossomed is that authorities have relaxed and allowed street life to just happen.
