Kelowna's Juicy Tips

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At Tourism Kelowna, we all love this time of year. One of the great pleasures of early October is the Fall Wine Festival (October 1 through 10 this year). The wine festival is in its 30th year now, and is credited with being one of the top 100 events in North America by the American Bus Association, and the only wine festivals in North America to actually take place during harvest at wineries.

A common scene at this time of year in Kelowna - bonus, it's wine festival!

With over 150 events to choose from over the next 10 days, you can customize your own wine festival getaway. The festival encompasses events at wineries, like harvest hunches, winemakers’ dinners and grape stomps, as well as tasting events at different hotels, restaurants, and cultural venues. Each venue has its own take on how to celebrate the wine festival, so you get a range of activities, price-points, and dress codes.

Glorious Grapes! We celebrate the harvest at the Fall Wine Festival.

For example, House of Rose is bringing back its Grape Stomp event, which benefits the Food Bank (donations) and is otherwise free. I attended this event last year with some media guests, and we had a blast. Read about their Grape Stomp more by clicking here.

St. Hubertus offers harvest lunches through wine festival, which embody that spirit of communal celebration and wine country feasts that many people yearn to experience. Brothers Andy and Leo Gebert, owners of St. Hubertus, always welcome their guests in classic Gebert-brothers’ style, with a pithy and witty welcome speech, breaking the ice and drawing smiles and laughter. From there, the feast begins at long tables outside the winery under a tent. From introductions to those around you, to the enjoyment of delicious food and drink, the chatter always gets louder and more boistrous as the event proceeds. It’s a ton of fun!

St Hubertus' Harvest Lunches are a communal affair!

The signature consumer wine tasting event, WestJet Wine Tastings, is being held this evening at the Delta Grand Okanagan Lakefront Resort, also outside. It promises to be a really exciting evening featuring dozens and dozens of wineries from around the valley, all pouring their wines. At this event you’ll find couples, groups of friends, and the serious wine buyer scouting for his or her cellar. Mostly though, you get people who have a curiosity about how the many wines of the area differ, and who are just curious to learn more.

There are just too many great events to describe here for you. So please, check the Wine Festival’s calendar of events. You can search the events by city, venue, or event type, so be sure to play with it and tailor wine festival to exactly the experience you want to have.

Cheers!