If you missed the relighting of the Vancouver Olympic Cauldron last month, you’ll have a second chance at the end of August 2024, as it will be relit again to commemorate another global sporting event.
The Olympic Cauldron at Jack Poole Plaza, next to the West Building of the Vancouver Convention Centre, will be relit from 3 pm to 5 pm on Wednesday, August 28, 2024, just after the Opening Ceremony of the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games.
The relighting of the legacy Olympic Cauldron from the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games celebrates not only the Paris 2024 Paralympics, but also the Canadian Paralympians competing in the event.
The Canadian Paralympic Committee is sending a team of 126 athletes who will compete in 18 sports, including 24 in wheelchair basketball, 22 in Para swimming, 20 in Para athletics, 12 in sitting volleyball, 12 in wheelchair rugby, seven in Para cycling, six in goalball, five in boccia, three in Para canoe, three in Para equestrian, three in Para triathlon, three in wheelchair fencing, and one each in Para archery, Para badminton, Para judo, Para rowing, Para table tennis, and wheelchair tennis.
The Paralympics will run through September 8, 2024.
In keeping with a longstanding local tradition, the Vancouver Olympic Cauldron was also relit on the day of the Opening Ceremony of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games.
Just last month, a giant “I AM” sign was installed at Jack Poole Plaza as a temporary months-long fixture to promote awareness for the 2025 Invictus Games, which will be held at Vancouver and Whistler in February 2025. The Invictus Games, held in a different host city every two years, is a Paralympics-like sports event for wounded, sick, and injured service members and veterans. A total of 10 signs will be installed at prominent locations in Vancouver and Whistler, with the sign at Jack Poole Plaza being the only sign with nighttime illumination.
“I AM” sign for the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 at Jack Poole Plaza. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)