Fall 2023 was busy in Kelowna, with the city hosting two major events: BreakOut West 2023 and the Pan Continental Curling Championships 2023. To make things even more exciting, shortly before the Pan Continental Curling Championships kicked off, Curling Canada announced that Kelowna would be the host city for the 2025 Montana’s Brier.
As part of Tourism Kelowna's Major Event Strategy, these events contributed significantly to Kelowna's local economy, especially on the heels of the wildfires that greatly affected Kelowna during the summer. Major events of this calibre not only generate high visitation and hotel stays but also have a positive economic effect on area businesses.
BreakOut West | October 11–15, 2023
BreakOut West is an annual 5-day music conference and festival hosted by the Western Canadian Music Alliance. Every year, the event is held in a different western Canadian city, and this was Kelowna's third time hosting the event, having previously hosted the event successfully in 2010 and 2018.
This year, Kelowna welcomed more than 550 conference delegates and 1,200 festival attendees for BreakOut West. The music festival and showcase took over downtown's cultural district and north end, with over 70 artists performing at eight different venues all within walking distance of each other, which included the BlackBox Theatre at the Kelowna Community Theatre, BNA Tasting Room, Delta Hotels by Marriott Grand Okanagan Resort, Kelowna Curling Club, Kettle River Brewing, Metro Hub, and Red Bird Brewing, which had stages inside and outside.
The event, including the Western Canadian Music Awards presentation, welcomed 70 Canadian speakers, presenters, mentors, 45 international delegates, 26 conference sessions, and facilitated over 1,100 one-on-one meetings.
Pan Continental Curling Championships | October 29 – November 4, 2023
The second edition of the Pan Continental Curling Championships took place at the Kelowna Curling Club from October 29 to November 4, 2023. This event, hosted by the World Curling Federation, acts as a qualifying event for the 2024 World Curling Championships for both men and women. Kelowna has great experience holding World Curling events, having previously hosted three world championships: the World Women’s in 1986, the World Juniors in 2002, and the World Mixed in 2018.
The event, held over seven days, welcomed 30 teams—made up of 213 athletes representing 15 different countries—to Kelowna. The women’s teams competing in the A-Division were Australia, Canada, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, New Zealand, Chinese Taipei, and the United States, while the men’s A-Division teams were from Australia, Canada, Guyana, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Chinese Taipei, and the United States.
2025 Montana's Brier Announcement
Pictured (left to right): Mayor Tom Dyas; Tourism Kelowna, President & CEO, Lisanne Ballantyne; Kelowna Curling Club, General Manager, Jock Tyre; 2025 Montana's Brier Host Committee Vice-Chairs, Sasha Carter, Tanya Stroinig, and David Stephenson.
On October 27, Curling Canada announced that Kelowna had been chosen as the host city for the 2025 Montana's Brier, the world's most famous national men's curling championship. The event will occur from February 28 to March 9, 2025, at Prospera Place. Ticket and volunteer information will be released in early 2024. Fans are encouraged to sign up for the Curling Canada Collective to receive updates.
If you would like more information on these major events or Tourism Kelowna's Major Events Strategy, please contact me at sara@tourismkelowna.com.
