The places we will go

While temperatures may be on the decline B.C. appetites for tasty exploration isn’t. Here, every season is worthy of celebration, and there are plenty of festive gatherings to prove it. Just bring your sense of adventure — and your binoculars, too.

Fraser Valley Bald Eagle Fest

Birds of a feather, well, they draw crowds east of Vancouver during the Fraser Valley Bald Eagle Festival, Nov. 15-16. This annual assembly celebrates the winged creatures’ connection to the landscape, and their yearly flock to feast on salmon. Set in the Harrison Mills area, home to the local Sts’ailes First Nation, enthusiasts can witness one of the world’s largest gatherings of bald eagles as they gorge on millions of spawning salmon that fight their way up the mighty Fraser River to its tributaries, including the Harrison River. On the roster: exhibitions and activities throughout the festival, plus informative floats with Fraser River Safari. It’s not all about one weekend, though. Pretty Estates Resort plays host Nov. 22- 23 to the Sts’ailes Salmon Celebration and even welcomes shutterbugs to the picture-pretty site for a photo workshop, Nov. 29-30. fvbef.ca

Salute the Sockeye

Head to the Adams River, which flows into Shuswap Lake 60 kilometres east of Kamloops, to witness a four-year peak of this world famous sockeye salmon run. Until Oct 26, Robert Haig-Brown Provincial Park comes alive for Salute the Sockeye, an unparalleled opportunity to see one of nature’s greatest spectacles as an estimated three to five million sockeye culminate an epic journey from the Pacific Ocean to the Adams River, turning the waters a deep crimson colour.

Fall Okanagan Wine Festival

The 34th annual Fall Okanagan Wine Festival kicked things off in fine fashion on Friday and goes to Oct. 13 with a deliciously diverse array of more than 120 wine, food, educational and arts-focused events. This fest celebrates all things harvest with a tip of the hat to resident vintners, grape growers and, of course, palatepleasing Okanagan chefs.

Cornucopia food + drink festival

Keep the party going, and swirl, sip and spit (that last one is optional) at Whistler’s annual Cornucopia food + drink festival, an 11-day indulgence of local food and wine that partners white-hot, homegrown chefs with top B.C. producers, breweries, distilleries and wineries. Set for Nov. 6 -16, Cornucopia promises sensory overload with a jam-packed lineup of winery dinners, interactive seminars, gala tastings and don’t-put-that-picture-on-Facebook after-parties. Sure, you’ll raise a glass (or a few), but you’ll learn a thing or two from the best in the business. Need we say more? whistlercornucopia.com

Clayoquet Oyster Festival

On Vancouver Island, imbibing is best paired with oysters … and then some. Indeed, bivalve enthusiasts can slurp to their heart’s content during Tofino’s 18th annual Clayoquot Oyster Festival, Nov. 14-15, a kick-up-your-heels gathering that marks Clayoquot Sound’s annual oyster harvest. These gems are plumpest at this time of year, and that salty fact provides all the incentive required to throw a costume party, host oyster farm tours and roll out the red carpet during restaurant shindigs. Capped by a gala event, the four-day festival will see plenty of oyster action, as more than 8,000 of these beauties are shucked, diced, primped, plumped or simply slurped from their shell. oystergala.com