Car Free Vancouver Day 2009

Sunday June 14th is Car Free Day in Vancouver Day with festivals and street parties happening in four neigbourhoods.

Photo credit: Rob__ on Flickr

The festival came out of the original 2005 car-free day on Commerical Drive, which lead to two events in 2006, another in 2007, and in 2008 we had the first city-wide event with several neighbourhoods going car-free.

The first annual Car-Free Vancouver Day, on Sunday June 15, 2008 ushered in the next phase in this bold experiment that had been gradually happening in Vancouver for many years. It took the car-free meme to the whole city, and represented the next level in our evolution toward healthy communities, authentic cultural celebrations, and car-free streets. On that day, FOUR communities presented their own Car-Free Festivals: Kitsilano, West End, Main Street, and Commercial Drive. Each Festival was envisioned and organized by the local core organizers, and each had a unique flavour.

Major sites this year include Kitsilano, Main Street, West End, and Commercial Drive. If you’d like to be a volunteer, performer, or vendor, you can contact your local organizing body through the website. They’re currently in need of volunteers to man barricades so contact the organization if you’re available to help out.

Photo credit: midnightglory on Flickr

Each neighbourhood has its own feel so you’ll be able to join a knitting circle and roller disco on Commercial Drive, enjoy tunes from the music stages on Main, pop into the spoken-word tent in the West End, and visit a collection of block parties in Kitsilano.

You can download your own Block Party Toolkit if you’d like to host on in your nighbourhood. Whichever location you visit on June 14th, please remember to walk, cycle, or take transit.

Update: City Council has just approved car free Sundays in four Vancouver neighbourhoods this summer, as a part of “Summer Space”. On several Sundays this season Collingwood, Mount Pleasant, Gastown, and Commercial Drive will be closed to vehicle traffic. [CBC]