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Get in the Spirit!

About Us

Spirit of Vancouver® is a not-for-profit organization mandated to develop, support, and promote events, organizations, and individuals that are making Vancouver a better place to live, work, play, invest, and visit.

The campaign began when The Vancouver Board of Trade and a group of Founding Partners agreed in 2001 that Vancouver needed to celebrate quality events more often and more enthusiastically in order to be a truly world-class city.

Spirit of Vancouver® is working to ensure that our city is not only brimming with talent, but has an exciting atmosphere for it to flourish in. By supporting a wide variety of initiatives, Spirit of Vancouver® is working to create a powerful civic culture that provides interest for residents and visitors, attracts new economic development, and is vocally genuine in celebrating local success.

Backgrounders

In recent years, Vancouver has struggled to maintain a level of community spirit. The potential departure of the Molson Indy and Symphony of Fire gave many members of the community a reason to voice concerns that had been building up for several years. In addition, media took up the issue and, as a result, the state of Vancouver's "event health" became the subject of tremendous public discussion and frustration.

Now, through the aptly named Spirit of Vancouver campaign, The Board is looking to harness public and corporate sentiment in support of the city and region. Throughout the next year, the Spirit of Vancouver will rally community leaders and members to the challenge of revitalizing community spirit.

To date, the response from the community has been nothing short of overwhelming. Over 500 people from across the Lower Mainland showed up to launch the Spirit of Vancouver. This successful and inspirational launch confirms that the Spirit of Vancouver has tapped a wellspring of community interest and support.

The Spirit of Vancouver is now in the process of soliciting and organizing volunteers while looking ahead to planning events under the Spirit of Vancouver banner.

View a presentation on the Spirit of Vancouver (PDF/2,735kb) and read comments.