1/15 In Gastown, Matthew smiles warmly for this quick snap by popeye logic.
2/15 In Barkerville, BC, Chris Leboe captures cousins with candy, and an extremely contented smile.
3/15 In West Point Grey, sports photography reached a new, interactive level this weekend. Image by Dan Paris.
4/15 Sno cones, popcorn, cotton candy, lemonade... this picture by Pamela de Mark shows a portable, delicious part of summer in BC.
5/15 The weekend's celebration of British Columbia also inspired some (perhaps inadvertent) patriotism. Image by Dan Fairchild.
6/15 What? Did you think normal life stopped on a holiday weekend? Grocery shopping in Vancouver's Chinatown, beautifully captured by Eric Flexyourhead.
7/15 A relaxed afternoon on the appropriately named Mystic Beach, Juan de Fuca Provincial Park, Vancouver Island. Image by JBK100.
8/15 At least one pedestrian in Victoria knows that sometimes it's important just to stop and take it all in. Image by Sean Doe.
9/15 Bruce Dean's photo captures Victoria blues musician, Dave Harris, in a moment of multi-instrument harmony.
10/15 No collection of BC Day photos would be complete without at least one shot of grumpy waterfowl: a blue heron in Beacon Hill Park shows us how it's done. Image by shoebox50.
11/15 Pigeon-proofed sundials showcase the afternoon's progress against vibrant skies at Granville Island. Image by Jawdoc.
12/15 A train near Lillooet is put in perspective in this great shot by okanaganboy.
13/15 The Pride Parade attracted hundreds of thousands of spectators. At least one brought bubbles. Image by didrooglie.
14/15 Not everyone had three days off, but these guys seem to be having fun nonetheless. Image by popeyelogic.
15/15 Victoria's Symphony got nautical last weekend, and thousands of people came out to watch. Bells, cannons, and fireworks in the provincial capital were a fitting end to a weekend of celebrating BC. Image by Bruce Dean.
Last weekend, the summer that seemed like it would never arrive finally did.
It was good timing, too. With a statutory holiday taking Monday out of the mix and, mercifully, not a drop of precipitation in the forecast, British Columbians headed outside for three days of provincial celebratation.
Mainlanders looking for a party joined more than 600,000 other spectators at Vancouver's Pride Parade, while on the Island, people headed to the province's capital to see the Victoria Symphony Orchestra perform in the harbour or spent the holiday perusing arts and crafts at the Comox Filberg Festival.
In Tsawwassen, the Sun Festival drew crowds with arts and culture, while Langley offered Renaissance lovers more period-specific revelry. For the hungry (and carnivorous), the August long weekend was all about Whistler, where participants in the National BBQ Championships had to be up early to finish marinating in time for Sunday morning's "Pork Butt Turn In." And then there were the beautiful British Columbian beaches...
The suddenly cloud-free skies, balmy temperatures, and myriad activities to choose from brought out the photographers in many of our readers. By Tuesday morning, our Flickr photo pool was overflowing with creative new pictures shared by The Tyee's talented community.
We've chosen a few of our favourite BC Day photographs to give you a glimpse of what your fellow readers were doing on the long weekend. We hope you enjoy them.