Happy Birthday, Canada!

Canada Day is only two sleeps away. What is Canada day all about, you ask? Well, Canada Day is kind of like Canada’s birthday and if you want to get technical, it’s when two British colonies and a province of the British Empire came together to form a single country, Canada. It’s also a national holiday (July 1) that everyone celebrates and there are plenty of festivities that take place in both large and small cities across Canada.

Photo by jmv on Flickr

The Yaletown Grand Prix is in its seventh year and is a Vancouver tradition that is held every Canada Day. The streets in that area are shut down, fences and bails of hay create a racecourse for the zippy cyclists. All day long, spectators perch themselves against the fences to get a good view of the lightning speed wheels that zoom by. The races take place between 1pm and 6pm and full details can be found here. Yaletown has many great shops and restaurants, so no need to worry about getting hungry!

Photo by realaworld on Flickr

No major holiday is complete without a parade, right? The Canada Day parade is relatively new and is in its second year, but did not disappoint last year. It starts at 7pm over at Georgia & Broughton and ends at Thurlow & Melville Streets. Full parade route can be found here.

After the parade, make sure to head down towards Canada Place and grab a spot to watch the Canada Day Burrard Inlet Fireworks show. For the last four years it’s been a huge success and they’re expecting to bring in over 400,000 people to catch the show, which runs from 10:30pm – 11pm.

Happy Birthday, kid!

Granville Island is also another popular place that many people go to on Canada Day. Grab some food, sit outside and listen to the music and feel patriotic with your fellow Canucks.

Photo by: Philippe Giabbanelli

If you’re lucky, you may find yourself at someone’s house enjoying some summer sunshine and a tasty barbecue.

Happy Birthday, Canada! You keep getting better with age.