An epic weekend, fires or no
SThe Okanagan Weekend moke, extreme fire hazard and flood aftermath isn’t going to stop the long weekend hordes from having an epic time in the Okanagan. “It’s not bothering us in the least,” said Sean Coward, general manager of the lakefront Hotel Eldorado in Kelowna.
“The hotel is full. There are a lot of boats out on the lake and at our marina it’s business as usual selling lots of fuel and doing rentals. We even have several weddings here this weekend.”
However, Coward, who is also president of the Kelowna Hotel Motel Association, admits most accommodations in the city saw a slight decline from the beginning of June to mid-July due to “media messaging.”
That’s code for the news was full of the fact there was flooding, forest fires and smoky skies.
Even with downturn of the past couple of months, Coward pointed out hotel occupancy overall is still ahead of last year.
This is all good news because the B.C. Day long weekend is traditionally the Okanagan’s busiest.
Summer is in full swing and hotels, campgrounds, restaurants, bars, attractions, wineries, golf courses, and stores depend on the deluge of tourists.
Coward said everything is back on track now and the proper information is now getting out to the public.
That proper information is that the Okanagan is open for business, the weather is glorious and all your favourite people, places and activities are here to enjoy.
“Our job is to attract people and ensure they have a good time while here,” said Tourism Kelowna director of communications Chris Shauf.
“But, we also have to be honest. If people call, and they have been calling, we tell them Kelowna is welcoming, but the air quality may be a concern if they have any type of respiratory issues.”
The smoke in the air that’s dulling the sun is from forest fires in Washington state and near Clinton.
Tourism Kelowna relays information from the province’s Env.gov.bc.ca website air quality health index chart.
For Friday, the Central Okanagan’s index reading was seven out of 10, which is considered a high health risk.
The index only gives a forecast one day out, so on Friday the prediction for today was five, which is considered moderate risk.
The smoky adjective was dropped from The Weather Network forecast for the Okanagan today.
Therefore, it simply reads sunny with a high of 34 C with light winds.
The outlook is much the same for at least the next four days.
Even if you’re bothered by smoke, Tourism Kelowna recommends plenty of activities such as arts and culture, food and wine, shopping, festivals and events.
If you’re not concerned about a little smoke, the Okanagan offers up all the usual summer standards from the beach, boating and anything else on the water to golf, hiking and biking.
“2017 has been a challenging year,” admitted Shauf.
“But we’re optimistic. There’s still lots of summer left and the fall is beautiful, too.”
The biggest event in Kelowna this weekend is the fireworks tonight at 9:30 p.m. over Okanagan Lake at Waterfront Park.
This is the spectacle postponed from Canada Day because of flooding.
The pyrotechnics are still being called the Canada 150 Fireworks and current conditions are completely opposite with extreme fire danger and smoky skies.
“The fire department has told us setting off the fireworks from the Tolko barge in front of Tugboat Bay Beach is not an issue,” said Festivals Kelowna manager Renata Mills.
“And we’ve been told the smoky sky may actually make a nice, different backdrop for the display. But, it’s definitely been a unique year and a unique situation.”
Festivals Kelowna expects 15,000 people to pack Waterfront, Stuart, Kerry and City parks to watch the fireworks and hear the music they are choreographed to.
That’s not as many as would show up on Canada Day, but still an impressive crowd.
There will be live music in City, Kerry and Stuart parks, starting at 6 and 6:30 p.m., before the fireworks are set off.
The extreme fire hazard means numerous parks are closed right now in the region, there’s a campfire ban and prohibition of any type of off-road recreational vehicles on Crown land, including trucks, jeeps, motorcycles, dirt bikes and ATVs.