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Things to look forward to in Kamloops and the Okanagan in 2026

A hockey player celebrates scoring a goal.
Kelowna Rocket Tij Iginla celebrates a goal. SUBMITTED/Kelowna Rockets/Steve Dunsmoor

The new year is often full of hope with New Year’s resolutions and fireworks filling people with a sense of optimism, so here are a few things to look forward to in Kamloops and the Okanagan in 2026.

Kelowna has a few big sports events lined up since the Kelowna Rockets are hosting the Memorial Cup and the city is set to host the BC Summer Games.

The Memorial Cup is coming to Prospera Place for the first time since 2004, which was also the last year the team won the trophy. The round-robin tournie hits the ice between May 22 and 31 with tickets already on sale.

Kelowna is hosting the BC Summer Games between July 22 and 26. The games have 19 sports and Special Olympics BC events.

Kamloops is hosting the 55+ BC Games between Sept. 8 and 12. The games usually have more than 20 sports and thousands of attendees each year.

We can’t forget about the iconic annual festivals.

There’s Penticton’s Frost Fest from Jan. 23 to 25, Okanagan Fest of Ale from April 10 to 11, and the Peach Festival from Aug. 5 to 9.

Vernon has its Winter Carnival from Feb. 6 to 15, SEISMIC Spring Mountain Festival at SilverStar Mountain Resort from March 27 to April 5 and Funtastic Sports and Music Festival from June 30 to July 3.

Kelowna has its International Fringe Festival with the dates to be announced, the Knox Mountain Hill Climb on May 16 and 17, and Rock the Lake set for July 10 to 12.

Kamloops has its International Buskers Festival set for July 24 to 26, Kamloops Highland Games set for June 27 and AltiTunes at Sun Peaks Resort on April 3 and 4.

For people planning long weekend getaways, the date-based statutory holidays are falling in the middle of the week, except for Christmas which is landing on a Friday in 2026. There are still eight stat holidays on a Monday or a Friday in 2026. Fans of all things scary and spooky can rejoice because next year Halloween is falling on a Saturday.

It’s also a municipal election year in 2026 in B.C., so we’ll be voting for mayors, city councils, regional district boards and school boards on Oct. 17.

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Jesse Tomas

Jesse Tomas is a reporter from Toronto who joined iNFOnews.ca in 2023. He graduated with a Bachelor in Journalism from Carleton University in 2022.

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