Okanagan Fest of Ales
Brewsville-Pentiction, British Columbia
It’s been said that Pentiction is the Florida of Canada. The mild climate of the Okanagan Valley is conducive to peach, and apple orchards, and draws many retirees. The beachfront on Lake Okanagan is lined with hotels and even the odd casino. Penticton boasts a thriving beer scene for a town of its size (43,000 in the metro area) with two breweries (Tin Whistle and Cannery) and a brew pub (The Barley Mill).
Each year the town plays host to the Okanagan Fest Of Ales, an indoor beer event that features breweries from across BC, and beyond. A good number of Washington brewers attend, as do a number of importers pouring beers from Belgium, China, and Germany. The festival draws a mix of attendees from 19 to 90. Tickets for Friday and Saturday sessions are very limited, and often sell out in advance. Click here for info.
This year the festival celebrates its 15th anniversary April 9-10. The festival hosts a unique two-tiered competition. The People’s Choice Award, is given to the brewery that gets the most votes in public balloting, and the Industry Choice award, which is given to the brewery to get the most points from secret judges selected from brewers and beer media. Crannóg Ales, an on-farm organic brewery from Sorrento BC has taken the Industry Award for Best Beer for the last 5 years running.
While in Penticton be sure to visit Salty’s Beach House, which serves amazing Thai curries and is located on the beachfront. The Book Shop downtown offers an amazing array of used books with reasonable prices. The store is has 5000 square feet of space, all of which is jam-packed with books, making it one of the largest used bookstores in Canada. Also recommended is a stroll along the beach to investigate the grounded paddle wheelers at the west end of Lake Okanagan. These stylish boats once plied the lake as passenger ferries. Penticton also hosts an Iron Man Competition, with a swimming component, so don’t be surprised to see locals training by swimming in the frigid April lake. Look closely though, as Lake Okanagan is rumored to be home to Ogopogo, a Loch Ness Monster type creature, with sightings dating back to the 1870′s.
