Penticton Peachfest Kiddies Day Parade 2008

Part of the fun of Penticton’s Peachfest is going to the Kiddies Day Parade, which started at 10am, ran down Main Street to Okanagan Lake Parkin Okanagan Lake Park.

Kids and their folks went all out again this year with fabulous costumes, festooned bikes, carts and mini-floats for the parade.

There were pirates and princesses, tigers and Batman. My personal favorite was the ‘Just Married’ wagon replete with bride and groom. The bride didn’t look overly pleased with the situation and by the end of the parade, she was no longer in the cart.

International childrens entertainer Charlotte Diamond greeted the kids, their parents, grandparents and a few odd souls like Ed and I as we arrived at Okanagan Lake Park.

A full afternoon of kid’s entertainment is planned including face painters, stilt walkers, balloon artists, and the one and only Ronald MacDonald – and his inflatable world of fun – and his knock out stage show!

Kiddies Day marks the last day of Penticton Peach Festival for another year with more (adult) entertainment and the official closing ceremony happening later in the day.

See the rest of the Penticton Peachfest 2008 Kiddies Day Parade pictures here.

Penticton Air Quality Almost as Bad as Beijing

OK, perhaps saying the air quality in Penticton is almost as bad as Beijing is a bit of an exaggeration, but when the smoke rolled in yesterday from a forest fire near Omak, Washington (the picture to the left shows the leading edge of the thick layer of smoke)- the air quality and visibility in Penticton took a huge nosedive.

Earlier in the week, skies were a little hazy due to smoke from forest fires in California and Oregon, but at least there wasn’t an obvious smell of smoke in the air. According to reports from the Kamloops Fire Centre, points south in the Okanagan valley were getting hot ash dropped on them.

The wildfire started last Thursday on the Colville Indian Reservation, which is about nine miles west of Nespelem and has burned 19,500 acres as of this morning.

Reports stateside indicate that 300 firefighters and air tankers are to be working on the blaze today. Such a shame that Washington State obiously doesn’t have the resources to contain fires earlier in the game – ’cause if it’s bad here, it’s worse there.

Click here to see more pictures of the smokey Okanagan valley.

Penticton Peachfest: Raining on our Parade

As I write this, the Penticton Peachfest parade has been underway for 1.5 hours and it’s been raining almost the whole time.

Amazing, considering we’ve enjoyed an incredibly beautiful summer in Penticton up to this point – hot, dry and completely clear skies day after day and month after month… until today.

Ugh.

And the fact that I’m here writing this post rather than showing my support down on the parade route is just testament to the fact that I must now be officially a Pentictonite, i.e. someone who runs for cover the moment that it rains.  

Actually, I did partake in the festivities for about half an hour. I listened to music of the various marching bands as it wafted up the hillside to my hot tub.

Oh well, tomorrow is Kiddie’s Day at Peachfest and they too have a parade. With a better weather offing in the forecast – Ed and I will venture down to see the kids for sure. In the meantime, here are our pictures from the Penticton Peachfest Parade of 2007.

Snowbirds Perform at Penticton Peachfest 2008

As I write this, I hear the sound of jets departing the Penticton airport. If you live in a big city, that might not sound like a big deal. But here in Penticton – where the biggest commercial aircraft that serves the city nowadays is a Dash-8 – the sound of jets is something special… especially when it’s the sound of the Canadian Forces Snowbirds in formation.

The Snowbirds opened the 2008 Penticton Peach Festival this evening at 6PM with a wonderful performance. The show that ran primarily east to west just north of the south shore of Okanagan Lake and between Munson Mountain and Red Wing Estates was particularly tight. The folks viewing from Munson mountain probably had the most fun as the Snowbirds raced directly overhead at low level. Woohoo! We met up with most of the ‘gang’ from our street at Marina Way Park just slightly off center showline. This was Lulu’s first airshow and evidently, from the look on her face (see picture to the right), she thought it was awesome!

Unfortunately, it appeared that one of the aircraft went unserviceable during the second half of the show, so they completed the act with only 8 airplanes. But, as always, the show was absolutely terrific – thanks guys!

You can see more of our Snowbirds pictures here on Flickr — there are close ups of the boys in red from the reception that we went to last night as well.

Penticton Peach Festival Starts Today

The biggest and busiest event of the year in Penticton, British Columbia is undoubtedly the Peach Festival, otherwise known as Peachfest.

Beginning back in 1947 to celebrate the peach harvest, 2008 marks the 61st annual Peachfest, which runs from August 5th through 10th. It actually started last night with the Canadian Forces Snowbirds reception at the Penticton Lakeside Resort Convention Centre & Casino… but who’s counting?

Anyway, during the 6-day festival there will be parades, bands, dancers, martial arts demonstrations, hypnotist shows, a wide variety of food & merchandise vendors, arts and crafts exhibits, aboriginal arts & crafts, two parades, the Sand Castle competition, and a Square Dance Festival. The featured performer is Nashville country recording artist Aaron Pritchett who will be at the Lake City Casinos Sound Stage on Friday August 8th. No doubt the kiddies will be lined up to see the Hanna Montana tribute artist.

The festival starts tonite when the Snowbirds perform at 6PM with best viewing from Okanagan Lake park. After the airshow, there will be a traditional Syilx Welcome Ceremony with Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Penticton Indian Band. The Honorable Stockwell Day, MP will also give a welcoming address.

The Peach Festival Grand Parade – one of the largest parades in BC – takes place on Saturday. There will be a huge variety of marching bands and floats from all over BC, Alberta, Washington and points beyond.

Kiddies Day is on Sunday and they have their own parade which starts at 11AM that goes down Main Street to Okanagan Lake Park where the kids will find face painters, stilt walkers, balloon artists, and even Ronald MacDonald.

If you’re in the area, come on down to Penticton for the Peachfest. You’ll have a blast!

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