Downtown Kelowna was a sea of red maple leaves Wednesday.

The 39th annual Kelowna FolkFest took place alongside Canada Day events celebrating the nation's 142nd birthday.

MP Ron Cannan was one of the local dignitaries on hand to help cut a large birthday cake in Prospera Place.

“It's a great day to be a Canadian, our country welcomes people from all over the world, we welcome about 200,000 people a year from different countries as new citizens and they bring such a wealth of experience and diversity to our country,” says Cannan.

He says Wednesday's ceremonies including welcoming new citizens.

“I got to help greet the 76 new Canadians, from 29 countries and that is one of the highlights of my year.”

Also in attendance at the opening ceremonies were Mayor Sharon Shepherd, MLAs Steve Thomas, Norm Letnick and Ben Stewart.

Thousands of people packed both Prospera Place and Waterfront Park to take part in events which included multicultural entertainment and food.