South Africa kicks off 2018 Celebration of Light, Sweden is Wednesday, South Korea next Saturday

Thousands of people lined the beaches in English Bay to watch the first night of Vancouver's Honda Celebration of Light fireworks festival.

The festival features three countries putting on 25-minute firework displays from a barge moored in English Bay.

South Africa's Fireworks for Africa began the festival on Saturday.

On Wednesday, Sweden's Unique Pyrotechnic will take to the skies, followed next Saturday by South Korea's Daehan Fireworks Co.

All the performances start at 10 p.m. PT. and CBC will stream the shows on its website and Facebook page.

Love the big crowds
All three teams were required to design their shows this year around the theme of love.

Up to 15,000 people are expected to take transit to the events each night. TransLink has added extra service.

Meanwhile, Vancouver police are asking people to be patient getting in and out of viewing locations as road closures are in effect.

Cst. Anne-Marie Clark is live tweeting from the event to handle questions.