Kelowna's Cultural District Homepage
Heritage

About Us

Kelowna’s Cultural District is located in Downtown Kelowna on the shores of Okanagan Lake and Waterfront Park. The Cultural District was once the centre of the Okanagan Fruit Packing industry but is now home to artists and performers who offer a variety of classes/workshops for individuals and groups from pottery to jewellry making and everything in between. There are 9 art galleries including a First Nations gallery, 4 museums and 6 performance spaces. Within the 6 block area there are also 18 pieces of public art on display made from local, regional, national and international artists. There are a multitude of ethnic restaurants for your dining pleasure that highlight our famous Okanagan wines.

Kelowna’s Cultural District is also home to a number of unique boutiques which makes for a great afternoon or day of shopping. The venues such as the historic Laurel Packinghouse, Kelowna Art Gallery, Kelowna Community Theatre, Rotary Centre for the Arts and Cannery Lane galleries are perfect for hosting receptions, meetings or other special events.

If you are interested in seeing it all or getting a taste of what the Cultural District is about then you have the option of a self-guided or guided walking tour. Kelowna’s Cultural District is also home to many festivals throughout the year including the Okanagan Wine Festivals and the Life & Arts Festival.

Building a Cultural Legacy

The vision for cultural development began to take shape back in the early 70’s when an ad hoc committee formed to study the feasibility of developing a “Cultural Arts Centre” in Kelowna.

In 1989, a major step was taken with the establishment of a Mayor’s Task Force to create cultural policy. This policy has helped to give form, support and provide direction for the cultural development in our City. Since then, significant progress has been made to integrate arts and culture into overall community planning and the delivery of services to residents and visitors alike.

Through collaboration with the arts and cultural organizations policies and plans with cultural mandates have been developed; funding mechanisms created; and human resources committed.

Some of these policies and plans include:

  • The Official Community Plan
  • Kelowna Centre Plan
  • Streetscape Plan
  • Social Plan
  • Economic Impact Study
  • Downtown plan
  • Cultural District Plan

Funding mechanisms created include support for institutions such as:

  • The Kelowna Museum
  • The Kelowna Art Gallery
  • The Rotary Centre for the Arts
  • The Kelowna Community Theatre
  • Historic Laurel Packinghouse

Funding is also provided for arts groups through the:

  • Kelowna Arts Foundation
  • Public Art Committee

Over the years the City has also committed human resources to arts and culture with the creation of the:

  • Arts Development Office
  • A Cultural Services Division

The City of Kelowna supports ‘culture’ in the broadest of definitions to include the performing, visual, literary arts, the environmental, material media, multicultural and recreational arts. The individual and the group, as well as the amateur and the professional.

Throughout our history in Kelowna, many innovative measures have been taken to support and promote arts and culture. What was envisioned in the minds of artists and arts organizations back in the 1970s became a reality! The development of Kelowna’s Cultural District, the nucleus of Kelowna’s artistic and cultural activity, was made possible through the following cornerstones of our cultural development:

  • dedication of the arts community
  • municipal leadership and support
  • strong community planning
  • major investment

Arts and culture provide countless benefits to municipalities and it was with this vision that Kelowna’s City Council took a proactive approach to the development and marketing of our Cultural District in Downtown Kelowna. Click here for the “ Cultural District Implementation & Marketing Strategy ” from 2000 which has guided the development of the Cultural District.

A Cultural Capital of Canada

In 2004, Kelowna was awarded the “Cultural Capital of Canada ” by Canadian Heritage. This national award is to provide recognition and support to municipalities for special activities that harness the many benefits of arts and culture in community life.

The designation enabled Kelowna to:

  • invest more in arts & culture
  • increase and improve cultural services
  • strengthen connections with other communities through shared cultural experiences

In collaboration with non-profit and private sector stakeholders, meetings were held to develop a program of arts and cultural activities leading up to a major celebration in our 2005 centennial to be part of the Cultural Capital of Canada programming. Over 38 programs were supported through the Cultural Capitals of Canada funding.

Our winter program included the development of an outdoor progressive theatre event called Discover the District with Dickens, held for the first time in December 2003.

Spring bloomed and continues to bloom each year with a three-day cultural celebration called the Life & Arts Festival – this signature festival highlights the many arts and cultural organizations within our district with programming that showcases our heritage and involves the performing arts, visual arts, creators workshops and more.

Summer and fall have seen the enhancement of the cultural components within many of our successful community events such as:

  • Parks Alive! - a non-profit program that brings arts based programming into parks. Last year over 65,000 people experienced Parks Alive! concerts.
  • The Fall Wine Festival - ranked as one of the Top 100 Events in North America with over 125,000 visits.

By developing new cultural events during the winter and spring and increasing the scope and caliber of the programming in the summer and fall - we will continue to encourage greater numbers of people to enjoy our city.

However, a legacy is not built on events alone. A strategic direction requires the elements of planning, design and benchmarking. It also requires the human resources to make everything happen. That is why our Cultural Capital of Canada project incorporated a:

  • Design Charette - a planning workshop to identify the vision, land use changes and development for the Cultural District.
  • “Taste of Culture” program for students - educational program that provides a taste of all art forms for high school students in partnership with Kelowna Museums Society, Rotary Centre for the Arts, Kelowna Art Gallery, School District #23 and Cultural Services.
  • Performance Measurement project - A three-phase Market research study to measure public’s awareness and perception of the Cultural District and its accessibility as well as data capturing to monitor programming in the area.

It is these projects and others that is allowing us to succeed in making Kelowna’s Cultural District a place for residents and tourists to enjoy arts and cultural activities all year round. Our Cultural Capitals Program and the resulting work over the past years demonstrates Kelowna’s commitment to community building and cultural development in our city.