Line-up announced for Mini-Peach event Saturday at Gyro Park
After an absence of one year, the Penticton Peach Festival is back. Kinda, sorta.
With provincial health regulations loosened on July 1, organizers have scrambled to put together a one-day “Mini-Peach” festival scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 7 at Gyro Park, beginning at noon.
“Once we officially cancelled this year’s Peach Festival, we thought we were done for the year,” president Don Kendall said in an interview.
“Once they changed the regulations, we talked with the city, who were very responsive, held two emergency meetings in seven days and thought we might try and do something.”
Big-name musical acts and the traditional 90-minute parade will be noticeably absent this year, but overall, people are just excited to have something to look forward to, Kendall explained.
“An incredible response,” he said. “Normally, Peachfest targets the tourists, people will plan their vacation around it. The Mini-Peach is not designed to bring in thousands of people, we’re doing this for the locals, people who are already here and who are just looking forward to getting out again.”
A small parade on Main Street, starting at Wade Ave. at 3:30 p.m. will showcase the Peachfest float, last year’s royalty team and perhaps two or three other entries. (Due to COVID-19, a royalty pageant has not been held since 2019.)
Shooting Star Amusements will be set up at Rotary Park beginning Wednesday opening at 5 p.m. on weekdays and noon on weekends and operating each night until 10 p.m. Due to social distancing, there will be fewer attractions this year.
This year’s event is low key, but Kendall promises “the biggest-and-best” Peach Festival in 2022, coinciding with the 75th anniversary of what’s traditionally a fiveday and free event.
The following is a schedule of events for Saturday. All are at Gyro Park, unless otherwise indicated:
Noon: Opening ceremonies
12:30 p.m.: Canadian Tire Mega Motocross (on Main Street, adjacent to the park) 1 p.m.: ¾ Crush Band (classic rock) 2 p.m.: Black Widow Rope Spinners 2:30 p.m.: Broke Band (classic rock) 3:30 p.m.: Canadian Tire Mega Motocross (on Main Street, adjacent to the park) 3:30 p.m.: Royalty parade on Main Street 4 p.m.: Introduction of Penticton Royalty 4:15 p.m.: Timbre Wolves (classic rock) 5:15 p.m.: Bent Family Entertainment, Indigenous dancers
5:45 p.m.: Jack and Jill (rock and roll) 7 p.m.: Balance School of Performing Arts (dancing)
7:30 p.m.: High Voltage, a tribute show to AC/DC