If the Cultural Corridor were a symphony, then the North Okanagan would be a lush, sweeping passage of cello and viola, as rich and sustaining as fertile soils and verdant green fields and forests. Extending from Enderby and Cherryville in the north and east to Oyama in the south, this is a place to pause and linger as you indulge your craving for landscape vistas. Turquoise lakes sparkle at the foot of gently sloped hills, dotted with wild-flowers in spring and furry with low grasses for the rest of the year, looking for all the world like the flanks of some huge and benign animal at rest. Backroads, small towns and warm hospitality will lure you out of the
mainstream and into a charmed world full of creativity.
Here, history surrounds you - outside the museums, it may take the form of a mural, an outdoor stage on a moonlit summer night, the taste of artisanal cheese or a four-legged friend with a heritage pedigree. There are stories for telling and retelling. Make them your own and take them with you.
Give yourself permission to slow down and let your senses explore. Inhale the fragrance of sun-warmed fruit. Gaze into the mystery of an Okanagan opal. Stroll along the banks of the Shuswap River and open your mind to the thoughts that come with the sound and sight of water in movement. Seek out the beauty that's created just for you. And above all, watch for magic. It is in the very air.
Central Okanagan
The Central Okanagan, extending from Lake Country in the north to Peachland in the south, offers urban amenities and rural ambience as theme and variation. A 15 minute drive in any direction will take you from a chic downtown gallery to orchards, vineyards and grassy hillsides populated by California quail and tall Ponderosa pines, all with the sparkling backdrop of a 120km long fjord lake.
Kelowna's Cultural District is a Cultural Corridor highlight and the tempo here is molto vivace, with public and commercial art galleries, artist studios, performance venues, museums and a lively assortment of dining, entertainment and shopping options.
A walking tour through the district will take you from palate to palette with everything from Icewine to Haida ceremonial masks and canvasses by internationally acclaimed artists.
Intriguing grace notes will beckon from beyond the Cultural District. You may hear melodious bells from an elegant winery tower high above an ancient volcanic mound. It might be the fragrance of apple blossoms, lavender or gently oak-aged Chardonnay. Maybe it's the bold glint of stainless steel sculpture on a sunlit hillside or the lure of the past in elegant gardens and architecture. Or perhaps it's curiousity about how artists interpret the world, best served by a trip to a rural studio to watch creativity at work.
Listen for the murmur of stories; they may be in an apple, a glass of wine, or the walls around you. Wherever your senses and curiousity lead you, enrichment and the pleasures of discovery await.
South Okanagan/Similkameen
There is a sense of mystery and contradiction in the shimmering desert air. All is not what it seems. This sun-drenched landscape reveals wonders as subtle as a tiny desert flower or as dramatic as a pendulous golden moonrise over white silt cliffs which seem to pulse and glow against the deep blue of sky and lake. The enduring beauty of this fragile area will haunt you like a musical motif wafting on a cool breeze.
Extending from Summerland in the north to Osoyoos at the US border, the Corridor's southern reaches are inspired by water, sun and soil. Past, present and future thrive in the knowledge and artistry of aboriginal peoples. Museums and heritage sites tell the stories of settlers lured by precious metals and the promise of agricultural bounty, and beautifully restored testaments to their toil and vision remain.
The seasons take delightful form in gardens, wines and produce. Where better than a farmers' market to engage in the elemental pleasure of biting into a sun-warmed apricot. Gardens and vineyards are dramatic here, perched alongside Okanagan Lake, above plunging canyons, or sweeping along the famed benchlands.
Soil makes it way into an extravagance of ceramic art and painters fill their canvasses with imagery from nature. Wherever you go, water, sun and soil will bestow their blessings. Tread with care on this precious land.
Cultural Collections
This continuing partnership is both practical and effective: it reflects the proven affinities between cultural, heritage and nature-based travel experiences, and it allows for a sharing of resources between two organizations both committed to adding diversity to the existing tourism product mix in Canada. The partnership has led to a number of significant, tangible deliverables, including a strategic plan for product development in the Okanagan Cultural Corridor, and a series of group tour packages and self-drive itineraries, all of which incorporate both nature-based and cultural experiences.
This partnership is key to the development and growth of tourism in the region. The experiences provided to visitors are on the leading edge of a significant trend in world tourism toward learning and enrichment travel.
Bearfoot Canada and the Okanagan Cultural Corridor have joined compiled eleven Experience Routes that we call Streetscapes to Landscapes. These self-guided drive itineraries moves the collector from cultural experiences in the city, to the farmyard or winery and then to nature-based excursions.
The Okanagan Cultural Corridor offers an inspired journey through valleys filled with delights for your senses.
See history unfold in our museums and heritage attractions. Join in the applause for gifted musicians, dancers, and actors.
Enjoy the gardens, vistas, and fragrances as you move through our diverse landscapes.
As you travel from Enderby to Osoyoos or from Hedley to Cherryville, be curious. Be open to wonderfull
suprises, enchanting stories, breathtaking vistas and best of all the one-of-a-kind people that make all
of this magic happen.
Whether you are a cultural traveller or a local resident out to explore, you will discover delights for your senses,
seasoned with a bit of learning and a lot of fun.
CULTURE IN THE OKANAGAN
A Cultural Partnership
....Naturally.
The Okanagan Cultural Corridor has worked in partnership with Adventure Okanagan Co-operative and its affiliated Canadian Tourism Commission Product Club, Bearfoot Canada, during the past year.
Helping travelers understand
travel fear and the unknown.
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guide
Bearfoot Canada is your travel portal to unique and exciting Canadian experiences. Visitors can explore nature, adventure and culture on one of the many Bearfoot Routes throughout the British Columbia Interior. Walk, bike, canoe or drive The Canadian Desert; The Monashee; The Golden Mile and more....
