Kelowna's Juicy Tips

There are two things that Kelowna truly excels at, and they will both get the spotlight this weekend. One is an active environment ideal for fitness, which will shine during this weekend’s Apple Triathlon. The other is a commitment to quality in gastronomy. I know that’s a mouthful, but just get a few mouthfuls of the sensational samples at this weekend’s Okanagan Food & Drink Festival, and I think you’ll agree.

Let’s start with the Okanagan Food & Drink Festival. Many previous posts have been about different purveyors and producers of great food and drink. It’s no secret: Kelowna shines in the fresh and creative food department! The Festival takes place tonight and tomorrow evening at the Curling Club, tickets are $15. You can expect to see about 49 vendors at the Curling Club on Recreation Ave in the North End, encompassing food, wine, beer, and spirits.

The vendors will exhibit over 150 products and samples, like premium cheeses, pizzas, spreads, jams, butter chicken, wild salmon, craft beers with unique tastes, wines from here and around the world, and spirit tastings like scotch, grappa, and organic vodka. Whew! There’s lots of great tastes here, so treat yourself to a date with your tastebuds. Here’s how you do it: you can buy tokens when you arrive (for $1), and the tokens are used to buy samples of whatever you want to check out. Prices are not expensive, with 90% of the samples there between 1 to 3 tokens. You won’t go hungry!

There are also seminars available: one on Belgian Beer, one on Canadian Scotch Whisky, and one on the experience of opening up a vineyard – so get there early and you can register for the seminars, too, for free. Today’s event is from 6 pm to 10 pm, tomorrow’s is 7 pm to 11 pm. Get your tickets and more info at ExciteTheSenses.com.

And now for the Kelowna Apple Triathlon sponsored by Pushor Mitchell on this weekend. This event is recognized by the Internatinal Triathlon Association, and is a major athletic event for Canada.  Kelowna is a real triathlon city in that we’re perfectly positioned to train in multiple sport disciplines with the lake, great weather, trails and running paths. The Kelowna Apple Triathlon is a Canadian National Triathlon Championship Race. It is anchored by Tugboat Bay, and the whole area between the Delta Grand and Prospera Place.

Never before has Kelowna seen such a star-packed start for the Canadian National Triathlon Championships: Beijing Olympic silver medal winner Simon Whitfield, 2004 Olympian Brent McMahon as well as a contender who had four top 10 World Cup finishes in 2008, are all on the men’s starting list.
For the women, Paula Findlay, winner in 2008, will be defending her titles this year against Olympians Lauren Groves and Kathy Tremblay for the National Elite title. These are well-respected and awarded athletes, and they will all be competing right here in our city this weekend. For a behind the scenes look at the triathlon, check out their blog.

I was on the KAT website the other day, and just have to share this quote with you from Simon Whitfield. I just loved it, and by it’s placement on the homepage of the website, I can see that the race organizers loved it, too.  “The Apple Triathlon was my first Olympic distance race back in 1992. It remains, to this day, one of my favorites: held in a wonderful city, with great people, incredible scenery and with the generous support of the city, the people of Kelowna and the incredible volunteers. The National Team along with triathletes from all across Canada can’t wait to get to Kelowna, enjoy the sunshine, spend some money!!!! and go home to rave about your wonderful home in the Okanagan.” Go Simon!!

For those unfamiliar with triathlon distances, athletes will swim 1.5 km, bike 40 km, and run 10km – with shorter distances applying for younger athletes and the Try-A-Try racers. But no matter which level of racer you are, this is no small feat. Each racer must race by themselves in all three sports, so these folks are extremely fit and well-rounded athletes.  The great thing is that the race is extremely spectator-friendly – in fact, the corner of Water & Clement, all around Prospera Place, is set up for spectators.

Many of our roads are being used as race grounds, so make sure you’re familiar with the road closures. And definitely get out there and cheer on these exceptional people and their accomplishment. Our cheers and encouragement fuel their energy and performance.  Have a great weekend!