1000-foot Waterslide Returning to North Vancouver for 2 Days in 2016

If you didn’t get your fill of slipping and sliding last summer, you’re in luck. It looks like North Vancouver is bringing back Slide the City – with its 1,000-foot-long water slide – for another run in 2016.

The mammoth slide made its area debut last August during North Vancouver’s Car Free Day, an annual event that closes main drag Lonsdale Avenue to traffic. The slip-and-slide-like structure stretched three full blocks down the steeply inclined roadway, from Victoria Park to Fourth Street.

Around 25,000 thrill seekers came out to ride the monster slide during its one-day appearance. But many more were turned away: Tickets sold out in less than two weeks, leaving hordes of wannabe sliders disappointed.

With that in mind, North Vancouver’s city council is slated to approve an expansion of Car Free Day and Slide the City to two days this summer, Aug. 13-Aug. 14. A report to council noted, ““Due to an extremely high demand for tickets, the difficulties of setting up and taking down the slide in one day, and an overwhelmingly positive response from the community, staff support the expansion of Car Free and Slide the City to two days.”

Slide the City is a travelling attraction that sets up in cities across North America during the summer months. It describes itself as a “family-friendly slip-and-slide water party event” with “live music, food, drinks, water and of course the biggest slip-and-slide ever to hit asphalt.” Unlike the Slip ‘N Slides you may remember from childhood, this one is fully padded, with inflatable bumpers to ensure riders don’t careen onto the pavement.

Tickets for Slide the City 2016 haven’t yet been made available. Last year, riders paid $25 for a single run. Three runs were discounted at $35 and unlimited runs set you back $55. Final approval of the two-day Slide the City event is expected from council this week.