Kelowna, Peachland, Summerland, and Westside residents will join the rest of Canada in this year’s Culture Days celebration, Sept. 30, Oct. 1 and 2.
Culture Days features free, interactive events for the public, with the aim of engaging Canadians in the arts and cultural life of their community.
Here is a sampling of what will be happening over the Culture Days weekend.
In Kelowna
Build a Bee Hotel at the Kelowna Art Gallery: Whether it's a bee hotel, insect hotel, or wild bienenhaus. Join some of the team behind the exhibition For All is For Yourself, which features over 10,000 bees on the walls, created out of hand-made paper and filled with seeds. Help build a home for pollinators and pest controllers. As part of The Art and Pollinator Project, this particular hotel being built will be placed at Brent's Grist Mill Heritage site. Also, be sure to check out the exhibition.
Culture Slam Under the Stars: Bring your high energy and snaps. Watch and enjoy this battle of words as 12 poets compete for bragging rights as Kelowna’s best slam poet. Who will win this round of wordsmith supremacy? Visit the Inspired Word Cafe to find out.
Classical Arts & The Modern Brush: Join Charla Maarschalk and Alexandra Babbel as they discuss the world of painting and how the classical subjects of yore are given new life with modern painting techniques. This incredible event is part of the Classical Arts 101 series, presented by Opera Kelowna and the Arts Council of the Central Okanagan. These presentations give you an opportunity to learn more about some of the classical art forms without the commitment of attending the entire show. Discover ballet, opera, architecture, poetry, fashion, makeup, music and more. The entire day will culminate in a Grand Finale concert where you can experience each discipline in a fun and easy short format.
James and the Giant Peach Open Rehearsal: Get an exclusive behind-the-scenes theatre experience and watch the cast rehearse. Watch as the cast brings this mystical, magical tale to life right before your eyes. Get an insider look at the rehearsal process and experience all the mishaps and improv moments that go along with creating and building a professional show.
On the Westside
Spread your (Butterfly) Wings: Participate in a communal art project in which you will be asked to paint a tile. Each tile will correspond to a section of a massive butterfly, which will be assembled. The middle section will be left blank, allowing people to have their picture taken with a back drop of massive wings. The piece represents transformation through community involvement, using art to accomplish new heights of beauty and solidarity.
Okanagan History: Jordan Coble will provide visitors to the WFN Sncəwips Heritage Museum an in-depth, hands-on tour that addresses Okanagan history pertaining to Westbank First Nation. The tour will have a special focus on cepcaptikʷəɬ, Okanagan oral histories through the artistic expression of WFN's own Coralee Miller.
In Peachland
Peachland Playwrights Present: A Reader’s Theatre evening in the Little Schoolhouse. This is a form of play presentation where people join in and read their parts with great enthusiasm and emotion. The setting of the play is guided by the narrator, but is ultimately up to the vivid imagination of the audience. Also performing, the Peachland Strummers, a local ukulele group.
—JR