Mixing drinks: beer bash occurring during wine fest
Great Okanagan Beer Festival holding 3rd annual event on May 13
Initially, I was prepared to construct this story as an alcohol smackdown. Wine vs. beer. A battle of the beverages. But, it seems all is good between high-brow wine and beer, which covers the demographic gamut from working-class to hipster.
As a result, the Great Okanagan Beer Festival sees no problem scheduling its third annual one-day blowout May 13, which is the second last day of the 23rd annual 11-day Spring Okanagan Wine Festival.
“There’s nothing wrong with enjoying beer in wine country,” said beer fest event manager Tara Myers with a laugh.
“I know Kelowna is wine country and our beer fest happens on the last weekend of wine fest, but I don’t see them conflicting. There’s been such a boom in craft beer that there’s demand for a festival such as ours.”
Effectively, in the midst of wine fest, the beer fest is creating an oasis of microbrewed suds, an alternative to all that sipping the nectar of the grape from stemmed glassware.
“In the past two years, our mid-May date didn’t conflict with wine fest,” said Myers.
“When we saw they would overlap this year, we worked closely with Tourism Kelowna to work out any potential problems. Ends up there is no problem. Our fest on the 13th is attracting a different crowd than will be going to wine fest events that weekend.”
In other words, millennials can drink up at the beer fest next Saturday while their parents have a courtyard sit-down wine tasting at Ex Nihilo Winery in Lake Country or do a wine and cheese tour at Nk’Mip Cellars in Osoyoos.
And then, both generations can convene on the Sunday as millennials take their moms to the wine fest’s inaugural Floral event at the Laurel Packinghouse in Kelowna to celebrate Mother’s Day.
In another drinks showdown, the inaugural Okanagan Craft Cider Festival is sold out today at B.C. Tree Fruits in Kelowna as the spring wine festival gears up through its first weekend.
The Great Okanagan Beer Festival is actually put on by Gibbons Whistler, a hospitality group that owns bars and clubs in Whistler and has been organizing the Whistler Village Beer Festival for five years.
Three years ago, Gibbons brought the beer fest concept to Kelowna with panache.
The local fest is held in the afternoon, from noon to 5 p.m., outdoors in Waterfront Park framed by Okanagan Lake and the lagoons of the park.
There’s live music, 60 craft breweries pouring samples of 120 beers, a party atmosphere and four food trucks – Thai on the Fly, Surfside California, Smoke’s Poutinerie and Crasian.
The fest expects to attract a capacity crowd of 3,500.
Tickets are $45 in advance, $50 at the gate, and include three tokens good for three beer samples.
Additional tokens are $1.75 each and sold in books of five or 10.
Okanagan breweries pouring at the fest include Penticton’s Bad Tattoo, Highway 97, Tin Whistle and Cannery; Vernon’s Okanagan Spring and Marten; and Kelowna’s Big Surf and BNA.
Ciders from Kelowna’s B.C. Tree Fruits and SunRype will also be available.
Some of the other 60 breweries include Bowen Island, Fernie, Bomber and Postmark from Vancouver, Big Rock from Calgary and A Frame from Squamish.
While there will be lots of traditional ales, lagers and pilsners, there will also be a myriad of oddities from a gin-and-lime pilsner by Richmond’s Fuggles & Warlock and Cool Hand Cuke cucumber sour from North Vancouver’s Hearthstone to maple cream ale from Revelstoke’s Mount Begbie and Jerkface 9000 wheat by Vancouver’s Parallel 49. Tickets at GibbonsWhistler.com. There’s also a few days of special beerthemed events surrounding the fest at Kelowna restaurants, pubs and breweries.
Check the same website for details.