The Bear at Jim Stuart Park is one of Kelowna's most beloved public art installations.

(JOHN MCDONALD / iNFOnews.ca)

The community favorite and now annual tradition of the "Valley First New York New Years" family celebration will again be held this December 31st from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. in Jim Stuart Park across from City Hall and in the Kelowna Community Theatre.

"We are working hard like Santa’s elves to get ready for this 5th annual, all ages appropriate New Years Eve celebrations for our community,” enthuses Renata Mills, Executive Director with Festivals Kelowna. “We continue to see a terrific response from our event partners, sponsors, and community who all look forward to this fun event to ring in the New Year together. Of special note this time is that we’ll also be helping countdown to Canada’s 150th Birthday year.”

Free to attend, "Valley First New York New Years" features plenty of free activities including skating on the outdoor ice rink, drop-in games in the “Re/Max Kelowna Kid’s Snow Zone” featuring the City of Kelowna's Park n'Play program, Karaoke, Wii stations, as well as toss games hosted by the RBC Cup winning West Kelowna Warriors, and members of the Okanagan Sun Football Club. The local youth soccer association COYSA will lead games of “Giant Soccer”, Chances Gaming Entertainment Kelowna will host a “Parent Babysitting Station” where adults can win cool prizes, and Buskers will roam the park with magic and a glow show. The great team at Re/Max Kelowna will again be serving 1000’s of cups of free hot chocolate, while Valley First staff will give out tons of prizes and glow items provided by the City of Kelowna, Chances Entertainment Centre, Bell Media, and the Kiwanis Club of Kelowna.  Returning again this year will be the “Valley First Warm-Up Zone” in the KCT featuring a craft station where kids can make blowers and noisemakers, play drop in games like Giant Jenga, get their face painted, and take a break watching cartoons on a huge screen inside the theatre. New this year, 4 food trucks will be onsite from 4:00 to 9:00 pm serving “glove friendly” portions of little donuts, Fusion Indian meals, tacos, wraps, and more.

The Jim Stuart stage will feature live musical performances starting at 6:00 pm with Funk/Soul act “Swamp Honey”, Canadian Rockers "The Floyd Vedan Band” at 7:00, and our high-energy, Indian fusion band “En Karma” at 8:00 pm. “Embassy DJ” will spin tunes between the acts to get people dancing and warm.

Capping off this fun evening will be a fireworks display at 9:00 pm to ring in an early New Year and to help countdown to Canada’s Sesquicentennial Year in 2017. Shot from the North West point in City Park, the show will be visible along the waterfront from The Sails to Waterfront Park.

For more information, check out our homepage at www.festivalskelowna.com, the Festivals Kelowna group on facebook, follow along on twitter @parksalive or search hashtag #NYEKelowna, and tune into 99.9 Sun FM, 101.5 EZ Rock or Am1150.

Festivals Kelowna produces community focused, arts-based festivals and programs. With a family-friendly approach, we strive to enhance the lifestyle of our residents and visitors through positive cultural experiences.

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