Inside LiveCity Downtown

Before the Olympics, downtown Vancouver’s two LiveCity venues—LiveCity Yaletown and LiveCity Downtown—were touted as the place to be, each home to major pavilions, huge high-def screens, and main stages loaded with live nightly entertainment. Last week, while the sun was shining, both celebration sites were packed, and getting in to either meant waiting in some of the longer Olympic queues.

Even with the rain, which has shortened wait times during the day, both LiveCitys are still attracting major crowds, but wait times are much better.

So what’s the difference between the two? If you haven’t been to both, should you go before the Games conclude on Sunday?

LiveCity Yaletown is the bigger of the two, houses more pavilions (from Olympic sponsors like Coca-Cola and Samsung), which means more interactive games, has a nightly fireworks show, and lets you get your picture taken with the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch (for free, inside the Coca-Cola pavilion).

LiveCity Yaletown's huge outdoor plaza

LiveCity Downtown also has live nightly entertainment, but what really distinguishes it from its sister-site is its location (a short walk to both Robson Square and Canada Hockey Place), the Canada Pavilion, where the Stanley Cup is on display daily from 12pm – 3pm, and that it has an indoor space for Game-watching, the LIVE@LiveCity Downtown cafe/bar, which is a huge plus during our current rain.

The Stanley Cup is on display inside the Canada Pavilion at LiveCity Downtown daily from 12pm - 3pm

Beware, though, that the LIVE@LiveCity Downtown cafe/bar gets extremely crowded and can have long wait times. When I went today, hockey fans were already getting comfortable at 3pm to await the Team Canada’s Men’s Semifinal against Slovakia over three hours later! If you want in here, go early!

Fans enjoy drinks and food indoors at LiveCity Downtown's LIVE@LiveCity Downtown "chalet"

Is one LiveCity event better than the other? Personally, I’d say no. They’re both worth checking out—who wouldn’t want a picture with both the Olympic Torch and the Stanley Cup?—but there is one major difference: LiveCity Yaletown—like the Olympic Games—ends on February 28. LiveCity Downtown will be open for two weekends in March—March 12-14 and March 18-21—in celebration of the Paralympic Games. So if you have to choose this weekend, go Yaletown.

Of course, both places will be rocking on Sunday for the Olympics’ Closing Ceremonies. Do you know where you’ll be for the last day?