Festival season in the Okanagan is starting to get going. Line ups are being announced, tickets are on sale, and with all that commotion it felt like a great time to let you know about some of our highlight festivals and events that happen in the Okanagan. This list isn’t comprehensive but if your looking for an event worth going to here’s a starter list for you

Fat Cat Festival: July 7-9th, Waterfront park
– School Day: Friday 8:30-1:30pm: hands-on programming and workshops. Open to general public, homeschoolers and students
– Fat Cat Children’s Festival Parade, Saturday 10-11:30am
– Community Day, Saturday, 11-5pm: stage performances, street performers, and lots of hands-on activities

Celebrate Canada Day Kelowna 2013: July 1st, Waterfront park, Jim Stuart Park, and Kerry Park
Join over 50,000 attendees celebrating Canada’s Birthday. Over 50+ activities and performances that are multi-generational and family- friendly.

IPE: Aug 28th – Sept 1st, Armstrong
The Interior Provincial Exhibition and Stampede is a five-day fair that showcases our agricultural history, cultural and artist talents and is attended by over 150,000 each year. It plays host to the Wrangler Tour Finals Pro Rodeo, Youth Talent Competition, Dodge Truck Music Stage, Thistle Hill Petting Zoo and much more.
http://www.armstrongipe.com/

Parks Alive, Music in the Park, Lake Country Open Air Performances, etc: July and August, Parks throughout the Okanagan
For any of those new to our region you really need to know about our free live music concerts in our various communities. Almost every community in the Okanagan hosts free community concerts in one of our parks.
Every evening throughout the summer there is a free concert somewhere. So get out there and discover some great live local entertainment. Call your local Parks and Recreation office for more information on free concerts in your community.

Global Music Fest: Aug 24th, Memorial Park, West Kelowna
This is a new event that I am producing in West Kelowna this summer. Its a completely free community multicultural festival that is being organised as a collaboration between Creative Okanagan, ISCO, and the District of West Kelowna. I’ll be doing a full story on this event once all the details are finalized but it will feature a sampling of some of BC’s best emerging indie and multicultural talent.
Here is a sample of one of the acts peforming this summer at Global Music Fest

Funtastic: June 28th-30th, Vernon
Billed as “Canada’s Greatest Slo-Pitch Tournament & Music Festival” this is Vernon’s signature Festival. Headliners this year include: Honeymoon Suite, Sweet, and Aaron Pritchett
For more information go to: http://funtasticsports.ca/music-festival.html

Dancin Barefoot: July 20th, Peachland
Headline acts this year include: Nick Gilder Sweeney Todd Group and Shawn Hook

Tickets are now on sale: http://www.ticketbreak.com/event_details/6099
Full event info: http://www.dancinbarefoot.com/

Keloha: July 5-7th: Waterfront Park, Kelowna

www.keloha.com
I recently interviewed the producer of this event. The full story can be read here: http://www.castanet.net/news/What-s-On/91798/Keloha-2013

Salmon Arm Roots and Blues: Aug 16-18th, Salmon Arm
Bruce Cockburn, City and Colour, plus an overwhelming number of amazing bands. Full event listing’s here: http://www.rootsandblues.ca/category/2013/

WIN FREE TICKETS: As part of this story we wanted to give away a pair of tickets. To enter simply click the “tweet this ” link at the bottom of the story. After this weekend I’ll randomly select a winner from one of the tweets to win two tickets to the Dancin Barefoot Festival:http://www.dancinbarefoot.com/