The Canadian Forces Snowbirds will perform at Peachfest.

Image Credit: FACEBOOK / Canadian Forces Snowbirds

The week thousands of Penticton residents - and many others from outside the community - look forward to the most has arrived as the Penticton Peach Festival 2025 kicks off today, Aug. 6. 

The longest-running free family festival in Western Canada returns with five days of free family fun, with most of the festivities centred around Okanagan Lake Park in downtown Penticton.

The fun kicks off early today with the opening of the Home Hardware Kids Zone in Gyro Park, starting at 9 a.m. It continues Thursday and Friday.

Tens of thousands of local residents and visitors will once again listen to great music, cheer on local dancers and singers, watch the Canadian Snowbirds aerial team and be entertained from noon until 11 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday evening, with things wrapping up on Sunday with rising Canadian country music star Dawson Gray taking the stage at 8 p.m.  for a one-hour set.

Shawna Tinga is finishing her third year as president of the Peach Festival board of directors, for which she’s been with for 11 years.

“We like to promote Peach Fest as five days of free family fun,” she said. “We also have one of the largest parades in the Interior of British Columbia on Saturday, Aug. 9 as the Peter Brothers Construction Ltd. Grande Parade returns. The parade kicks off at 10 a.m.”

This year’s parade will feature a “splash zone” near the end of the route along Lakeshore Drive starting at Power Street heading towards the finish line at the S.S. Sicamous.

“Spectators can shoot each other with water blasters and they can also participate with other parade entries that are armed with water blasters themselves,” she said. “We’ve got some very interesting entries joining the parade to help with that, including water trucks and firetrucks. It should be a real fun time for everyone involved.”

As has become tradition, the Royal Canadian Air Force Skyhawks Parachute Team will showcase their awesome skills today at 5 p.m. Members of the team will meet members of the public and sign autographs and pose for photos following their performance.

The official opening ceremony takes place at 7 p.m. inside Okanagan Lake Park.

The musical headliners this year include Men Without Hats (“The Safety Dance”) tonight, Canadian country stars Kyle McKearney and JoJo Mason Thursday evening, tribute acts Bad Medicine (Bon Jovi) and Eagle Eyes (The Eagles) Friday night, alternative rockers Econoline Crush and Sloan Saturday night and country acts Hillside Outlaws and Dawson Gray Sunday evening.

The organizing committee and festival board try to bring back performing groups that put on a good show, as well as promote local talent, but they also try to mix things up with new performing artists each year, said Tinga.

“We definitely like to introduce and bring back acts that do well and get good audience response,” she said. “Things like our Kids Zone and Shooting Star Amusements and all of the sporting events like the Sheila Bishop Slo-Pitch tournament, our beach volleyball tournament and the enduro mountain bike race at Three Blind Mice on Sunday are all returning again.

“We do try and rotate different acts on or near the main stage in the park every year. In the past, we’ve had high divers and lumberjack competitions. This year, we have the IFlip, which hasn’t been here in 10 years. They put on a really great showcase of aerobatics and tricks on the trampoline. They promise to be an act to catch over the five days. They will be putting on shows twice a day Thursday through Sunday.”

The high-flying and popular Canadian Tire Mega Motocross team returns again this year, with talented motorcyclists performing aerial tricks outside the main gates on Lakeshore Drive.

“We get big crowds for every performance when they perform twice a day from Wednesday to Friday,” said Tinga.

Being able to get Sloan to play Peach Festival for the first time is exciting, she said.

“We’re always open to bringing in popular bands that have never played Peach Fest before,” she said. “It keeps things fresh and exciting and we’re already working towards bringing in other exciting acts for 2026 that we were not able to secure for this year.”

Being able to offer five days of great music and entertainment free of charge is a blessing and everyone is welcome to join in the fun, said Tinga.

The City of Penticton is offering increased bus service throughout the festival in an attempt to reduce the number of motor vehicles trying to find parking spots over five hectic days, she said.

A bike valet service has also been organized for those who want to ride down to Peach Festival on their bicycles.

A “Quench Buggy” will also be offered to allow participants to fill up their water bottles throughout the festival.

“We want everybody to be safe, hydrated and to have fun during the entire five days,” she said.

Okanagan Lake Park opens at noon today, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The Kiddies Day Parade begins at 11:30 a.m. Sunday.

Another highlight for 2025 will be the Miss Penticton Crowning Ceremony, set for 7 p.m. Friday evening, said Tinga.

“In past years, the Miss Penticton crowning ceremony has taken place at the Cleland Theatre, but we’ve moved it this year into the main festival site in Okanagan Lake Park,” she said. “We will crown Miss Penticton live on location in front of a large crowd during Peach Festival, which should provide a lot of memories for the contestants.”

Without the commitment and hard work of the board of directors, a small army of volunteers and more than 70 corporate sponsors, an event the size of Penticton Peach Festival would not happen, said Tinga.

“Without our 70 sponsors, who help out and support us from platinum level to friends of the festival at gold, silver and bronze, we would not be able to host this event,” she said. “We also have over 300 volunteers scheduled in different shifts over five days and they make sure everything stays on track.

“Also a huge thank you and shout out to our volunteer board of directors. There are 21 of us and we each have our own realm of responsibilities and duties we’re in charge of and we work pretty much all year getting ready for this one week to arrive. We’re all busy, with other things going on in our lives with families, young children and careers, but we have a great group that give up a lot of their own time to make this happen. Really big kudos to our board of directors.”

While the majority of people attending Peach Fest are from the Okanagan, it has become such a popular event that many Americans, plenty of Albertans and thousands from the Lower Mainland in B.C.  make the trip to spend several days enjoying the family fun, said Tinga.

“It’s so cool to see participation in Peach Festival turned into a lifetime of cherished memories,” she said. “There are so many that save their money and holiday time to come to Penticton for Peach Fest.”

— This story was originally published by the Penticton Herald

News from © iNFOnews, 2025