Celebration of Light 2014

Hey everyone! ♡

One of the most highly anticipated events during the Summer in my city is the annual Celebration of Light event. It's basically a huge fireworks show that lasts for ~20-30 minutes, and occurs on the distant waters of a beach. Prior to the grand show, viewers stake their spots on the beach around mid afternoon and have fun in the sun. Some people arrive an hour before the show. Thus, it becomes extremely difficult to walk back to your spot as literally every inch of the beach is claimed by other parties, and the paths are crowded by viewers that stand. Every year, 3 teams all from different countries come to compete on different nights. I went to the last day of this year's three dates (Saturday, August 2nd), which was the night for Team Japan to "light" up the stage!

My friends and I arrived at the beach around 4 o' clock, but there was already a decent amount of people there already! All of the wonderful spots that had a log to lean on were taken. None the less, we found a nice spot that was halfway from the path to the shore and could fit our large party of roughly 20. The weather was an endless blue, but as a result, it was one of the hottest days yet! After walking by the shore, chatting, eating some food at a nearby restaurant, playing cards, exploring the walk... night finally appeared!

The beautiful sunset at the beach.

The heat was much more bearable once the sun took its sleep. For someone that does not cope well with hot weather, it made time pass remarkably faster than how it did during the afternoon. In the photo, the ship in the water is where the fireworks are released for the show! There were a few weak fireworks that were fired before the start to pump up the crowd and to give their products a final check.

At exactly 10:00pm, the vibrant show commenced!

A shot of the fireworks.

My personal favourite, because it looks like falling stars.

The finale.

As a person that loves memorable spectacles, I had a pretty enjoyable time at the fireworks show today. Despite the heat which I absolutely despise, the growing anticipation throughout the day then finally seeing the infrequent beauty is quite amazing! I would definitely recommend anyone in my area, or anyone else where, to witness a bedazzling fireworks show sometime during the Summer.

The thundering event marks the halfway point of Summer break. I hope everyone is doing well! Just a quick caring reminder, make sure you drink a sufficient amount of water during these hot Summer days, stay hydated! :)