VANCOUVER -- The lights have gone out for Vancouver’s luminescent Bike Rave.

The annual bike rave that draws thousands of cyclists lighting up the seawall and the streets of the city at night has been cancelled, after Vancouver police earlier this year announced a crackdown on organizers of large events without permits.

Over the years, the neon-lit mobile dance party on wheels has grown from a few cyclists to 7,000 riders of all ages last year. But police now say that’s too many people to have at an event without being properly licensed by the city.

According to a Facebook statement posted Friday, Cranked Cycling said it would not be organizing the 2015 Bike Rave because it did not want to be fined.

“I wish that citizens assuming their own responsibility and risk, and simply not needing police was an option, but at 7,000 people last year, it’s not,” the statement said. “The city feels a responsibility at that size to be present, and thus wants proper registration and fees, or will be looking to hold somebody responsible and fine. I am not willing to be that person.”

Contacted via Facebook Messenger, Willis Lombard, one of last year’s organizers, said the VPD told promoters they’d need to cover the wages of the officers assigned, which could run about $5,000.

Lombard also said it is highly unlikely they would be approved for a permit for a bike rave, as has occurred in prior years, and that it would end up being more of a bike parade. He’d like to see smaller grassroots rides continue throughout the year with no central organizer coordinating with police.

Vancouver police said in late May that officers would begin tracking down promoters of unsanctioned events such as raves and festivals to recover policing costs. That announcement followed the death of a 23-year-old man who fell off a cliff in Stanley Park during what police called an unlicensed rave.

Police said that when 911 calls come in about an unlicensed event, the department will over-deploy resources and send dozens of officers because they don’t know the extent of any potential risk. That can add up to tens of thousands of dollars in policing costs for one event. Police recently faced this problem during the 4/20 marijuana demonstration that drew an estimated 20,000 people into the city’s downtown core in April.

Chris Bruntlett, who with his wife Melissa Bruntlett runs the cycling advocacy firm Modacity, said cancelling the Bike Rave is a huge loss for Vancouver. He hopes a solution can be found to keep it going.

“I can’t say we’re surprised, but it’s a really unfortunate development. It was a victim of its own success,” he said.

Bruntlett has been taking part in the Bike Rave for the last five years, and he says every year the number of participants doubles, just by word of mouth. He believes organizers were concerned that more than 10,000 people would show up this year.

He’d like to see the city host an annual Bike Rave, similar to Montreal’s Tour la Nuit, which this year saw more than 17,000 costumed and incandescent cyclists riding around a planned route at night. The event is sponsored by various commercial organizations and registrants pay a modest fee.