Torch Comin’ to Town!
The count down is on! The torch will be arriving in Kelowna at about 5 pm on Monday, January 25 and we are expecting to see a sea of red in City Park – wear your red jackets, red mittens, red toques – anything crimson to show your support. There will be 2 hours of programming on the main stage in City Park, activities for families, the lighting of the cauldron by Scott Frandsen… read on for all the details.
Olympic Torch comes to Kelowna on January 25.
When the torch first arrives in Kelowna it will take a scenic route around the downtown core and end up in City Park. The cool thing, too, is that we get to host the torch overnight and it will make its way out of town Tuesday morning between 7 and 9 am.
As far as programming goes, here are just a few of the artists that we can expect to see on the Mainstage:
- Andrew Smith is a great songwriter and ‘tap style’ guitar instrumentalist in the folk and roots music scene in Canada and internationally. He is the winner of a 2008 Okanagan Music Award for instrumentalist and producer.
- Norm Strauss is a concert and recording artist who has toured extensively in Canada and Europe. He is the winner of a 2008 Okanagan Music Award for songwriter of the year and writes acoustic/rock songs.
- Roger Gabriel is a warm, charismatic songwriter with a voice that would melt butter. He is the winner of a 2008 Okanagan Music Award for Country group of the year.
So there will be entertainment, ice sculptues, family activities, Olympic action, and a historic moment for Kelowna on Monday. You might be wondering about the best way to get there, given road closures and so on. Kelowna Regional Transit is offering free transit on Monday between 4 and 10 pm on all routes. This should make getting downtown really simple. Here is the scheduling information so that you can plan you route.
You might want to take up Orchard Park Mall’s suggestion to use their lot as a “park & ride” facility. Just park your car here and take tarnsit from the station just outside the west entrance to The Bay.
For more details and a look at those torch routes, check out the Facebook page that has been created just for the Kelowna torch relay event.
It will be a great evening! Come down to City Park, join over 30 local sport teams to cheer on the torch as it makes its way to the cauldron. Make sure you check out Mr. Vesterinen’s Grade 6 music class as they perform their specially composed Olympic song in front of the Sails Fountain. If you haven’t seen the video of their performance yet, be sure to have a look at this last blogpost about the song. It’s a super catchy song and shows the incredible creativity of our Kelowna students whose hearts were ignited by the Olympic spirit.
I hope to see you on Monday!
