The Festivals and Events Marketing Assistance Project funded by the Penticton & Wine Country Tourism Advisory Council and administered by the Penticton & Wine Country Chamber of Commerce has partnered with several of Penticton’s annual festivals and events to assist with their marketing and promotion for 2008/09.

The festivals and events receiving marketing assistance funding from the Penticton & Wine Country Tourism Advisory Council Committee include the Fest of Ale, Go Rowing, the Meadowlark Festival, the Naramata Bench Tailgate Party, Naramata Unfiltered, the Peach City Beach Cruise, the Pentastic Jazz Festival and the Penticton Elvis Festival.

In addition to the marketing funding which these festivals and events will administer, Penticton & Wine Country Tourism will invest an additional $9,500.00 to promote festivals & events.

Vice Chair of the Council, Beth Campbell praised local volunteers, saying “Penticton is very fortunate to have such a strong and dedicated volunteer base. The volunteers really deserve recognition for ensuring that festivals continue to be a vital part of our economy.”

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The wines of Kelowna’s Bounty Cellars are taking centre spot this spring with two, new limited release wines and an exciting partnership with the Leo Awards.

The 10th Anniversary Leo Awards, on May 23 and 24 at the Westin Bayshore Hotel in Vancouver, celebrate excellence in the province’s film and television industry. Bounty Cellars was selected to provide the wine with a custom label based on the awards show logo to include in the premium gift bags that will be distributed to the award presenters.

Bounty Cellars was also recently selected to provide private label wines for the 2008 BC Summer Games, which take place in Kelowna this July.

Bounty Cellars is a boutique winery that follows the model of the traditional French négociant, or wine merchant, using the best grapes, juice and wine from throughout the Pacific Northwest to produce a portfolio of top-quality wines year after year for a variety of clients.

The winery’s two newest offerings are now for sale in limited release. The 2007 Pinot Blanc (VQA), with only 300 cases available, and the 2007 Gewurztraminer (VQA), with just 180 cases available, can only be purchased direct from the winery.

Bounty Cellars bottled its first wines in May 2005 and has since become known for consistently top-quality wines that appeal to a broad range of palates.

The winery’s private label program is ideal for those establishments seeking an exclusive private house wine, companies looking for gift ideas, or for an innovative fund raising idea or individuals with a taste for exceptional wines.

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What does this say about our viewing habits when it comes to TV viewing?

Of the top ten programs in Canada, six of them are reality television.

CSI

American Idol

Dancing With The Stars (Mon)

Survivor

American Idol (Tue)

Dancing with the Stars (Tue)

Desperate Housewives

American Idol Special

NCIS

Medium

CSI had 2,831,000 viewers and has remained our number one program this year to date.