Kelowna’s $256,000 Christmas trees were under budget

The City of Kelowna spent $256,000 on a pair of Christmas trees, but it could have spent more. 

The two trees, one in Stuart Park and the other Rutland Centennial Park, are going to be used for years to come. 

City council approved $300,000 for new artificial Christmas trees back in May, and the money was taken out of the city’s funding reserves.

The new trees came on two semi-trucks, in 72 boxes of branches and 400 boxes of ornaments. Each tree is 40 feet tall with 371 branches, 1,142 ornaments and 38,150 LED lights. Both trees are virtually identical.

When the council approved the money for the new trees councillor Gord Lovegrove admitted it was quite a lot to spend and he had received questions from the public about why the city planned on spending so much on artificial trees. 

“It’s just an amazingly large cost,” Lovegrove said in a council meeting, May 26.

It took around 60 staff hours to set up the city’s seasonal decorations. 

The city went with artificial trees since real trees that size tend not to do well in an urban environment and the city is trying to grow its tree canopy.

The city also spent $1,500 on a seasonal window painting in Rutland. 

The Landmark District Tree of Hope is a private endeavour set up by the Landmark District, TD Canada Trust and the Stober Foundation. It’s 120 feet tall with 25,000 LED bulbs and it raises money for charity every holiday season.

Kelowna isn’t the only city that has invested six figures into holiday displays. 

The City of Penticton has spent $218,000 on its holiday display since 2023, including the light tunnel in Gyro Park that was recently featured in a Netflix movie shoot. Penticton got its holiday display money from a grant, rather than from reserves. 

“What residents see today is the result of a multi-year effort to build up the display. The response has been overwhelmingly positive – from viral social media posts in the light tunnel to the recent Netflix holiday film shoot in Gyro Park, which showcases Penticton on a global stage,” Penticton’s communications manager Anna Melnick said in an email.