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Okanagan-Taste

A taste of culture during the winter months

Films, food, wine and arts

Winter in the Okanagan is a good season to learn something new or explore arts and culture (or both), as we take a break from colder weather to stay indoors.

Sure, September is when our thoughts usually turn to school, but January and February provide plenty of opportunities for pursuing fresh interests. Here are a few to ponder:

The Snakebite Film Festival in Penticton, from Jan. 30 to Feb. 2, has sold out all of its pre-festival celebrations and you’ll have to be quick to grab any of the remaining festival passes for all nine of its thought-provoking films. The festival’s selection committee focuses on films that tackle themes of diversity and inclusion, with a particular emphasis on projects filmed in the region. Snakebite has become one of the largest winter festivals in the Okanagan and last year welcomed attendees from as far away as New Mexico and Texas, with more than 1,200 seats filled over the four days.

Also in Penticton, the Ignite the Arts Festival will return for Community Week from March 21-27 and Festival Weekend March 28-30. Even though it’s two months away, now is a good time to sign up to volunteer with your friends and earn a pass in exchange for giving your time.

While you may not really learn anything, Infusions Restaurant at Kelowna’s Okanagan College campus is where others hone their chef skills and it is one of many restaurants that will take part in Taste Around British Columbia from Jan. 22 to Feb. 9. Look up a spot that’s new to you, maybe book a short winter getaway to stay and dine and visit Art-BC to find a cultural activity to round out your experience.

Speaking of Okanagan College, open houses will take place in Vernon, Kelowna, Salmon Arm and Penticton this month and next. Apply for any program during one of these events and the application fee will be waived.

If you happen to be in the Lower Mainland, or are planning to head to there, the Vancouver International Wine Festival is fast approaching. It will begin on Feb. 22 and while there will be many opportunities to experience amazing culinary events, there will also be numerous seminars open to the public, and a robust trade days agenda.

This year, the festival is working with Lingua Franca, an Oregon winery known for its low-impact, organic and biodynamic farming principles. Josh Wludyka, who was the winery’s first intern and is now its director of brand at Lingua Franca, will be there.

Given the close, and evolving, relationship between the B.C. wineries and its counterparts in the Pacific Northwest, this might be a good year to attend and take some notes.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.



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About the Author

A creative thinker with more than two decades of experience in communications, Allison is an early adopter of social and digital media, bringing years of work in traditional media to the new frontier of digital engagement marketing through her company, All She Wrote.

She is the winner of the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association's 2011 and 2012 awards for Social Media Initiative, an International LERN award for marketing, and the 2014 Penticton Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Award for Hospitality/Tourism.

Allison has amassed a following on multiple social networks of more than 30,000, frequently writes and about social media, food and libations as well as travel and events, and through her networks, she led a successful bid to bring the Wine Bloggers Conference to Penticton in June 2013, one of the largest social media wine events in the world, generating 31 million social media impressions, $1 million in earned media, and an estimated ongoing economic impact of $2 million.

In 2014, she held the first Canadian Wine Tourism Summit to spark conversation about the potential for wine tourism in Canada as a year-round economic driver.

Allison contributes epicurean content to several publications, has been a judge for several wine and food competitions, and has earned her advanced certificate from the Wine and Spirit Education Trust.

In her spare time, she has deep, meaningful conversations with her cats.

She can be reached at [email protected]



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The views expressed are strictly those of the author and not necessarily those of Castanet. Castanet does not warrant the contents.

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