Penticton Festivals and Events

British Columbia, Western Canada

The City of Festivals:

World-class festivals and events happen here.From Elvis to jazz, Ironman Canada to square dancing, Penticton is alive with celebrations of the arts, the seasons and just plain fun! Plan your holiday around one of the city’s many festivals or events.

Annual Penticton Kiwanis Music Festival: Dance and Speech Arts Festival was foundedin 1926, this event annually hosts over 1800 competitive and non-competitive young amateur performing arts entries in 9 disciplines. These include strings and guitar, piano, vocal, dance, woodwinds and brass, and speech arts.	March 8 to April 28 / 2012
Okanagan Fest of Ale: At least 70 different brews, great entertainment, exceptional food treats and a spirit of fun are all together for what is the first of Penticton's great summer season events.	APRIL 13 & 14 / 2012
Peach City Half Marathon & 10K: This 12th annual race is a Boston Marathon qualifier. The route follows most of the Ironman Canada marathon course winding its way along Skaha Lake down past Okanagan Falls into the winery area before climbing into the ranch lands and then returning to Skaha Beach.	May 20 /2012
Meadowlark Festival: The weekend festival is a celebration of the unique wildlife and habitats found in Penticton and surrounding areas. There will be over 80 events and tours,most held under the open sky throughout the Okanagan Similkameen Valleys. More than 100 distinct types of wildlife habitat are home to some of the most diverse and rare assemblages of plant and animal species in BC and Canada.	May 17-21 / 2012
Snowbirds coming in for a landing Their showbox will be a 3,000-foot-wide and 7,000-foot-long area stretching from Munson Mountain to the Penticton Indian Band reservation. Sponsored by Peter Bros., the Snowbirds show is free to the public and can be best seen at Okanagan Lake Park east of the Penticton Lakeside Resort or at Rotary Beach Park between the peach and the S.S. Sicamous.	Scheduled Aug 1/12 in Kelowna BC hoping for a sighting in Penticton!
The Okanagan International Children's Festival:10th Annual Celebration for young audiences of all ages, types and sizes. Performing arts for children is a wonderful investment in the cultural growth and well-being of a community.	May 24-26 /2012
Penticton Regional Bridge Tournament: Canada's largest and most enjoyable regional.	June 11-17 / 2012
10th Annual Peach City Beach Cruise: You’re invited to take part in one of the most spectacular cruises in the Pacific Northwest. The cars will leave Penticton after the Saturday Show’n’Shine for a breathtaking 55-mile ride through orchards and vineyards and by crystal clear lakes.	June 22-24 /2012
11th Annual Pacific Northwest Elvis Festival: A great opportunity for Elvis fans to have a chance to meet with the people that knew Elvis. Highlights include tributetest and a wandering band of Elvis look-alikes, known collectively as "the Elvii.".	June 22-4 /2012
Okanagan Hockey School: Ages 7 through 17 receive professional instruction from a staff consisting of Junior “A ”, college, minor professional, and NHL instructors.One week sessions consisting of seminars, conferences,and on- ice instruction from July through August.	July 1 -August 24 /2012 The Penticton Panthers Penticton Men's Rec Hockey League
26th Annual Boston Pizza Junior Triathlon: Contestants are from 6 - 19 years of age will compete in a 50 metre swin ,1.5 km bike and500 m run	July 14 / 2012
30th Annual Peach Classic Triathlon: Two triathlons in the same weekend! The Annual Peach Classic Triathlon is an Olympic distance race starting and ending at Penticton ’s Okanagan Lake. A 1.5 km swim in the lake ’s warm waters, then a 40 km cycle through scenic wineries and fruit orchard country and ending with a challenging 10 km run. Interested in a triathlon for the younger folk? Your best bet is the Annual Boston Pizza Junior Triathlon.	July 15 / 2012
50th year Okanagan School of the Arts: Consider a holiday with a purpose! OSA offers courses taught by professional instructors in performing arts, music, fine crafts and visual arts. There are classes for all ages and abilities. This year OSA celebrates its 49th anniversary with a series of concerts,exhibitions and events, along with exciting courses. There are also classes available offered throughout the year. See the events schedule>>	Spring & Summer /2012
1st AnnualRock the Peach Festival : Promising to be the best show that the BC interior has ever seen. This festival will focus on a world-class music program of all genres with strong family content and safety foremost. Venue: Kings Park, Penticton	July 27-29 / 2012
9th Annual Peach Fest Square Dance Festival: There is in place a 10 yr commitment to have a square dance Festival in Penticton in August beginning in 2004. registration information	August 8-11 / 2012
66th Penticton Peach Festival: A family tradition for over 6 decades includes 5 days of festivities, including pie eating contest, peachfest parade, Miss Penticton Pageant, live bands and entertainment in Gyro Park and fireworks!	August 8-12 /2012
The South Okanagan Youth Soccer Association (Soysa) promotes Soccer for Youth in Keremeos, Oliver, Osoyoos, Penticton and Summerland, British Columbia from Mini-Soccer to District Teams for Girls and Boys. Everyone is looking forward to the 14th Annual Peach City Soccer Classic this August!
29th Annual Subaru Ironman Canada Triathlon: A sporting event like no other held here in Canada - 1,700 of the fittest athletes in the world testing themselves on one of the most difficult athletic challenges there is: a 2.4 mile swim, a 112-mile bike race, and a 26.2 mile marathon run. This is a race that takes the best athletes in the world just over 8 hours - the rest of the field has up to 17 hours to complete the course. Just finishing is an incredible achievement.	Aug 26 /2012
1st Anual "Challenge Penticton" Triathlon: This 3.8 km swim, the 180 km cycle and the 42.2 km run will be the main event, but there will also be a week long festival to make Challenge Penticton a celebration for the entire community.	Aug 25 /2013
16th Pentastic Jazz Festival: If you are a jazz fan you might want to tailor your touring plans to take in this event. With six venues to accommodate jazz enthusiasts of all ages.	Sept 7-9 /2012
12th Annual Penticton Dragon Boat Festival: Enjoy dragonboat races from the beach. The fistival features a large village, with food vendors and beverage garden.	Sept 7-9 /2012
Re-imagine Street Art Festival and Convention: Street artists will be converging in the 200 block on Mainstreet to creat murals on the walls in the back alleys of the downtown core. The community has been invited to share in the excitment for this first annual event - come on down and watch the artists in action! Enjoy the fun, as the DJ's monitor the progress, interview the street artists.	Sept 21,22 /2012
WINE FESTIVALS:	Listing of Local Wineries and Breweries>>
Ice Wine Festival features spectacular events, ranging from fun, casual grape stomps and barn dances to formal black tie events. Okanagan Icewine is a rare jewel and one of the finest dessert wines in the world. The Annual Okanagan Icewine Festival is scheduled to run at Sun Peaks Resort.	January 16-20 2013
Spring Wine Festival heralds the arrival of spring in the Okanagan… fragrant blossoms, the first shoots on the vines and the dawn of the grape growing season. A celebration of fine local food and wine. Over 30 restaurants and wineries will participate in this premier event.	May 4-13 2012
Summer Wine Fesitval is a great way to learn about wine and taste the incredible cuisine of the Okanagan.	July 7-15 2012
Fall Wine Festival, where food and food go together and many wineries and restaurants get together and create magic. Sample newly released Okanagan wines from over 40 Member Wineries.	Sep 28- Oct 7 2012
Fruit Bloom Harvest Dates:	Okanagan Similkameen Cooperative Growers Association
A p r i c o t s Blossom Dates April 10 - April 25 Harvest Dates July 20 - August 10
C h e r r i e s Blossom Dates April 20 - May 7 Harvest Dates July 1 - August 1
P e a c h e s Blossom Dates April 20 - May 2 Harvest Dates July 25 - September 1
P e a r s Blossom Dates April 25 - May 10 Harvest Dates August 15 - September 30
P r u n e s / P l u m s Blossom Dates April 28 - May 10 Harvest Dates August 15 - September 10
A p p l e s Blossom Dates May 15 - May 20 Harvest Dates August 15 - October 30