“The bar has been raised,” says the driving force behind the Great Okanagan Beer festival.
Liam James Peyton of Gibbons Events is overflowing with praise for the way the weekend festival played out, noting that everything from its content to local culture made it stand apart from the Whistler counterpart it was supposed to be an extension of.
“It was amazing,” said Peyton.
“It was 20 C and everyone was just smiles and high fives. It was a great, relaxed setting, not a fast-paced trade show some were expecting and the best event I’ve been involved with.”
Praise for the event that brought together 2,000 beer lovers and 119 beers came from beyond the organizer camp, as well.
“The inaugural GOBF was everything a first time festival should be,” commented Gerry Heiter, chairman of the Great Canadian Beer Festival, one of the province’s largest beer festivals, held in Victoria BC.
“A laid-back, fun festival in a wonderful setting, with a beer selection that had something for everyone to enjoy”.
Even the City of Kelowna seems to have approved, earmarking the same weekend next year for the restating of the event.
Although the city has had its fair share of criticism from event organizers in years past, Peyton seemed to believe that the guidelines he was expected to have in place in order to get the approvals needed to host the event were actually helpful.
“I’ve only worked with the resort Municipality of Whistler, but something about the planning processes here force you into considering things that I hadn’t done before,” he said.
A detailed, planned-out production schedule ensured that the festival’s load-in and tear down worked like clockwork.
“It was amazing,” Peyton said.
With a successful first run under his belt and dates for next year’s event socked away, Peyton already has a few ideas for improvements to round two.
“It will be the same idea, but we’re hoping to take more of the beach, space out the layout and use the island stage for live bands,” he said. “We had buskers on site, and people really enjoyed that. But we may use amphitheatre site for live music.”
There may also be good cause to make more room for ciders, given the number of ciders popping up in the valley.
In addition to praise, the event collected $5000 in donations to go toward the local based non-profit K-Billie Artist & Athlete Development (K-BAAD).
“K-Billie Artist & Athlete Development is extremely thank-full for the opportunity to align with the Great Okanagan Beer Festival. We produced the on site Busker Program and showcased 15 local artists who performed acoustically to the event attendees,” said Kelly Shepherd, Director of K-BAAD. “We see a bright future for the event and look forward to expanding the entertainment programming next year.” For more information on K-BAAD, visit www.KBAAD.com.
