The Spring Wine Festival Returns After Two Long Years

By Gary Symons In a sign the pandemic is drawing to a close, the Spring Wine Festival is coming back after a grinding, two-year hiatus. Okanagan Wine Festivals marketing manager Jennalyn Christopher said it’s an exciting time for the team, after a difficult two year period when pandemic restrictions shut down four wine festivals in the Valley. “Yeah, unbelievably long and tedious is right,” said Christopher. “And just a roller coaster. I mean, in March 2020, we postponed our Spring Festival until June 2020 thinking full well that we’d be able to do our events then. And now it’s been a full two years, so we are so excited to be getting back to the regular programming of the Okanagan Wine Festival Society.” The Spring Wine Festival tickets are now on sale, and selling briskly as fans of Okanagan wines seem equally excited to see the event return. The festival itself will run from May 5 to May 15, with the signature Valley First Spring Wine Tasting taking place at Kelowna’s Rotary Arts Centre on May 7. Thirty-seven wineries from the region will be serving up more than 150 top quality wines in what has been traditionally one of the most popular and important events of the year. Attendees will also get to enjoy delicious appetizers, live music, and art exhibits. Christopher says the participation from area wineries has been enthusiastic, as the industry tries to put the past two years firmly in the rear view mirror.

“It’s been really positive,” she said. “We’ve got lots of signups to pour at our signature events and I think, for the most part, people are excited to just get in front of the consumer again, in a different way than they’ve been able to do for the past two years. “People are excited to get back to these events and connect with the consumer in person, not over a screen.” One of those wineries is Hester Creek, which is pouring at the Spring Wine Tasting and also putting on special events at the winery itself for the duration of the festival.

“We’re certainly glad to have it back, and nice to see all these things coming back to the Valley,” said Hester Creek’s director of hospitality Roger Gillespie. “We’re reintroducing some of our onsite programs just in time for the Spring Festival, and really looking forward to it.” While BC wineries adapted very well to the demands of the pandemic, Gillespie says the return of the in-person wine festival events reestablishes an important connection between the industry and consumers. “It’s an opportunity to highlight some of our events and programming and the things we

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offer through their marketing initiatives,” Gillespie explained. “The timing of the wine festival is really nice too. That first feeling of spring when people are out in their gardens, and typically all wineries open their doors right around that time, so I think the wine festival certainly does bolster traffic for us.” Christopher says this year’s festival will see some new events and programs. Perhaps the most popular with wineries and ticket buyers so far is Blush & Bubbles, a “flirty and fabulous event” celebrating the best of the Okanagan’s Rosé and sparkling wines. The indoor/outdoor event right on the shoreline of Lake Okanagan will feature a welcome glass of bubbles, live entertainment, chef-attended stations and passed canapes. Wineries will showcase the best of their sparkling, rosés, and other favourites from their portfolio at the Waterfront Resort & Spa in Summerland. Another new event, From Cellars to Classics, is being staged as a signature event in partnership with Okanagan ChamberFest, and pairs music and wine with some of Canada’s best chamber musicians.

The evening will begin with an hour-long wine and hors d’oeuvres reception where guests will have the opportunity to taste more than 40 wines from regional wineries. Guests will then enjoy two 45-minute performances, with timeless works from masters such as Bach, Mozart, and Schubert, blended with more modern, thought-provoking pieces by living composers such as John Luther Adams and the legendary Okanagan composer, Imant Raminsh. Christopher also says Okanagan Wine Festivals has introduced a new program called the Winethusiast Club. “It’s kind of the brainchild of the pandemic,” Christopher says. “Our mandate is to connect wine lovers with the people who craft it, and in the absence of events, we haven’t been able to do that. “So, now we do monthly featured giveaways, we do pop up tastings as well, and VIP complimentary tastings,” she added. “It’s a program that goes on all year, and it’s just a great opportunity for people who are interested in wine in the BC wine industry, in particular, to get to know the people behind the labels a little bit more intimately.” As well, the membership for Winethusiast is just $39, and the discounts for just four wine festival tickets alone more than pays back the price of an annual membership. Both those memberships and the Spring Wine Festival tickets are selling quickly, so fans of the region’s wines are urged to reserve their event tickets before they sell out. “People are excited to get back to it,” Christopher explained. “This will be the first major event that a lot of people have attended in the past couple years, so I think people are just kind of chomping at the bit, and ready to go.”  Tickets for wine festival events can be purchased at thewinefestivals.com.

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