Although aspects of E-Week, such as E-Ball, have existed for as long as the Engineering Undergraduate Society has been around (1919), no one really knows for sure when E-Week the way we know it began. E-Week is formalized by a decree signed decades ago, by the Premier at the time which states, amongst other things, "Hereafter, let it be known that the first week of the second month of all years of our Lord shall be deemed the Week of Engineering."

It has always been very obvious when E-Week rolls around, to those who roam the campus during the day and those who roam the city during the night. Vancouver VPD and Campus RCMP have always had an inexplicable tendency to be more sensitive to the colour red during this week every year and, while it does not occur now, it was not uncommon (as recently as 2003) for one to commute to work Monday morning after the evening of the first Sunday of the month of February and notice that dozens of 'E's missing from buildings along Broadway. VW Beetle hangings, VW Beetle floating, banners flying, giant red engineering jackets stuffed with clothing donations dressed on Olympic icons, tiny white and red cairns placed in interestingly difficult-to-reach places, an increased amount of red clothing being worn by Vancouver's homeless, and convenience stores totally out of very unusual combinations of items were typical indications of the start of E-Week.

From then on, most activities would be restricted to campus. Throughout the week, students would hear the occasional badly-tuned marching choir and brass-based marching band; see the occasional 6-foot diameter rubber ball bounding down the street towards a baby stroller followed by leagues of red-clothed students; witness dozens of four-legged, 6-armed, 3-headed monsters stumbling along in the dark; and generally sense that the air is thick with competition that goes beyond having the Olympics in town. Oh no. This is bigger than the Olympics.