2025 has been a banner year for sports and major events in Kelowna. Our city proudly hosted some of the largest events our community has seen: the return of the Montana’s Brier for the first time in 56 years and Country Music Week & the CCMA Awards, which were hosted in Kelowna for the first time.  Together with the Curling Olympic Qualification Event, which is currently taking place at the Kelowna Curling Club, these events marked a significant milestone in Kelowna’s evolution as one of Canada’s top event-hosting destinations. 


Why Events Matter

Major events are a powerful driver of tourism and economic activity. Beyond filling venues, they stimulate increased visitation and overnight stays, increase spending in local businesses, and generate valuable national and international media exposure. These events also play an important role in destination development by introducing our region to new audiences, strengthening our brand, supporting the development of new infrastructure, and fostering community pride as residents come together to celebrate shared experiences.

In Kelowna, the impact of major events was especially evident in 2025, when the Montana’s Brier and Country Music Week, including the televised CCMA Awards presented by TD, brought national attention to our city and collectively generated more than $40 million in economic activity. 

 

CCMA 2025 - Country Music Awards

 

Hosting Landmark Events

As part of Tourism Kelowna’s Major Event Strategy, we developed a comprehensive business engagement strategy aimed at driving more traffic to Tourism Kelowna members and local businesses. We wanted to ensure that businesses were leveraging the events.

The strategy included several initiatives: 
 

  • An information session about the importance of major events, hosted by our team during Tourism Kelowna's 2024 AGM.
  • The “I Speak…” event series, which kicked off with I Speak Curling, a themed information and networking event delivered in partnership with the Kelowna Curling Club. The I Speak Country event, hosted alongside the Downtown Kelowna Association and the Country Music Week Host Committee, followed in June 2025.
  • Online Business Toolkits that brought together all the key details businesses might need to leverage the events.
  • Post-event surveys to gather feedback and measure impact.

These initiatives helped ensure local businesses were informed, engaged, and well-positioned to benefit from the momentum of each event. The impact was clear in the strong community engagement seen during both the Montana's Brier and Country Music Week: businesses displayed event decals, decorated windows, offered discounts and added-value promotions, and welcomed visitors to Kelowna. This created an incredible city-wide atmosphere, amplified by collaborative efforts with partners including the Downtown Kelowna Association, the City of Kelowna, Creative Okanagan, and Creative BC, among others. 
 

Montana's Brier TK Social Shares


Tourism Kelowna's Role in Securing Major Events 

Tourism Kelowna has played a central role in attracting major events to the region since launching its Major Event Strategy in 2018. The strategy was designed to establish a clear framework for identifying, pursuing, and securing large-scale events that deliver significant economic and community benefits. Working closely with the City of Kelowna, and in alignment with partners such as provincial agencies and sector organizations, we cultivate strong relationships with national sport organizations (NSOs), event rights holders, provincial sport organizations (PSOs), and other key stakeholders. Through these relationships, we identify events that align with Kelowna’s strengths as a host destination, prepare competitive bid packages, and help support the financial components of the bid process with partners including the City, the Province of B.C., and Creative BC. 

Once an event is secured, Tourism Kelowna continues to play an active role by serving on host committees and providing key resources to organizers throughout the planning and delivery phases. Our team works to ensure event organizers have access to the support, information, and community connections they need for a successful execution. At the same time, we collaborate with local businesses to help them prepare for and leverage the opportunities that major events bring, strengthening community engagement, enhancing the visitor experience, and maximizing the economic impact across the region.


What's next 

Looking ahead to 2026, it’s shaping up to be an exciting year for Kelowna. Building on the momentum of 2025, the Kelowna Rockets will host the 2026 Memorial Cup at the end of May, followed by the BC Lions bringing CFL action to the city for Touchdown Kelowna. Shortly after, the BC Summer Games will take over, bringing athletes and families from across the province to Kelowna. And this is just the beginning. Stay tuned for more announcements coming in 2026.

For more information on Tourism Kelowna's Major Event Strategy, or to get further information on the events mentioned above, you can reach out to me at sara@tourismkelowna.com