June 14th 2009 was Car Free Day in Vancouver. Roads were closed off in 4 locations: Main Street, Commercial Drive, West End, Kitsilano Block Party. Along with Car Free Day the Golden Ears Bridge was opened to pedestrians.
On Saturday I was planning to visit Main Street, Commercial Drive and the Golden Ears Bridge on Sunday. Well… I was a little ambitious, cause I only had enough time on Sunday for Car Free Day on Main. I’m not complaining, I had a blast on Main! I couldn’t believe this only happens once a year! This event NEEDS to be at least a monthly thing in the summer time. The atmosphere, people, entertainment, information, arts, crafts, culture, fashion, FOOD! and lots more makes Car Free Day a family and community event.
I started off my day at about 12:30 waiting for the bus on King Edward with Danny (my beefcake aka boyfriend), his sister and her special someone. Thinking 12:30 head to Main at about 1:00pm out of Main street by 3 or 4pm head to Commercial check that out, and see if the Golden Ears Bridge is still open after all that. I was on Main Street from 1:00pm – around 6ish, I having so much fun I didn’t want to leave.
Entertainment:
Various local bands rocked the streets. At almost every intersection there was a band, group or radio station filling the streets with different beats.
Besides music, there were numerous different types of performances and displays. Dancing, skate boarding, skate board hockey, unicyclist, roller derby girls, sisters in bridal dresses, ladies in butterfly costumes, a shark man… you name it, they were probably there.
FOOD:
We stopped at The Coppertank Grill for some food, I was surprised we were able to get a table, it was super busy. The Sunday promo was $12.99 for a pint of beer and pizza! They also had live music going on, didn’t know who it was but it sounded like he was beat boxing on his guitar. All the restaurants, bars, grills, bakeries and coffee shops were filled with people. Some even set up shop on the street. Wallflower Modern Diner had a station serving their delicious burgers for just 5 bucks! Once you’ve had enough savories there was also free cotton candy and pop corn hear the Heritage Hall. I myself had 3 servings of cotton candy. I made Danny and my brother line up for one, even though they didn’t want any, just so I didn’t seem like a pig getting 3 cotton candy cones all to myself…
Major sugar high after that big fluffy ball of spun sugar! I heart cotton candy!
Stuff to do:
Who knew in one day and on one street I was able to ride a unicycle, make custom buttons, blow bubbles, draw on the floor, draw on canvas, and probably a dozen more thing I can’t remember doing. Every step you took there was something to do, see or learn. It was a person with short attention span’s dream! I was bouncing from station to station… then again, I did have 3 servings of cotton candy in my system.
I don’t think I’ll be riding a unicycle again… this was probably my 20th attempt just to get this photo. Poor guy… he was so patient with me.
Local Crafts, Fashion and Art:
Countless local artisans lined the car free street with tables and tables of their work. Jewelers, fashion designers and artists sold and displayed their pieces. There were so many unique, one of a kind pieces of jewelery I wanted to purchase. Main street retail stores were also taking the opportunity to do some MEGA house clearances. I found some sweet deals at Lushuz Boutique, Dresses for $24.99, Sam Edelman shoes ONLY $39.99, Jeans from $59.99 all with additional 30% off just because it was Car Free Day! I love a sweet deal. Carole, my classmate with Poplar Studios, had a stand. They featured pottery by her partner Keith Lehman and Carole’s famous Cuddle Cups (in my opinion, the cuties things EVER!). It was so great to see each other outside of the school environment… more like it was so great to see each other out of cargo pants and t-shirts! Cargo/sweat pants and t-shirts seemed like the “uniform” for our design class.
This was the Poplar Studio table. LOOK! Cuddle Cups!
I can’t wait till next year’s Car Free Day in Vancouver. I will have to be better prepared for all the festivities. Goal and aim to visit all locations! Also, hopefully by next year, my blog pages would look a bit better too.
More random photos of the day:
;’* that seems to be a great topic, i really love it “-`