Sunday Service trying to bring something new to Okanagan party scene

A pair of Okanagan entrepreneurs had a vision to take the party scene to somewhere new, something different and they’ve done just that.

Aaron DeSilva, a cofounder of the Sunday Service day party series, said these days people are looking for fun things to do and interesting places to enjoy music without binge drinking until the wee hours of the morning.

“This is something that’s happening everywhere. It feels like there’s a trend of people who are more health conscious and who want to get eight hours of sleep and they still want to be social,” he said.

Sunday Service started last year and it has held events at Big White Ski Resort, a rooftop pilates event in Kelowna, a backyard wine party at The Hatch and this weekend it’s taking over the helicopter pad at The Rise Resort in Vernon from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. on June 28.

“Sunday Service is a day party series specializing in bringing house music and DJs, to really cool, unconventional venues showcasing the locations that we show up at,” he said.

While they are parties, the events are all ages. Some of the events are free, but tickets for this weekend’s event are $10.

DeSilva said they partner with the venues, vendors and DJs to cover the event costs while keeping it accessible for people on a budget. Part of the deal is advertising, exposure and bringing in new people to the different venues.

“It’s not like an extremely profitable venture right now. We’re definitely able to be sustainable and cover our costs,” he said. “I wanted to build and test out a new model for events to make it more accessible for people and treat it more as an opportunity to collaborate with these amazing venues and have win-wins.”

He said there are a range of demographics getting something out of the day party series.

There are young families bringing their kids. There are festival enthusiasts looking for something more low-maintenance than a three-day festival. It’s also geared for Gen-Zers who want to go out and be social without the typical bar and nightclub experience.

“In Kelowna it’s definitely ‘if you know you know’ with regards to cool nightlife and events,” he said. “I think people are just craving that more and more now.”