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Okanagan Fest of Ale Traditions: Cheers, Charity & Community

A Pictorial Preview of the 27th Fest of Ale, April 12-13 2024

Last year, the Okanagan Fest of Ale returned to its traditional venue, the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre, and was held indoors during its traditional month of April for the first time since 2019. What’s Brewing was there to experience the joy as a grateful and tight-knit community revived their annual tradition, just as first established in 1996.

The indoor portion of Fest of Ale, in the main room at the Trade and Convention Centre

Before that event, Okanagan Fest of Ale Society President Simon St-Laurent told us that “The PTCC offers many advantages to our vendors, entertainers and craft beverage enthusiasts, namely the proximity of many amenities within our community, ample parking and safety for all.” He pointed out the hybrid model that OFOAS employs with both indoor and outdoor spaces. We anticipate the same approach this year.

Top beer enthusiasts enjoy the outdoor portion of Fest of Ale, adjacent to the Convention Centre

Fest of Ale is not just another random beer event. Along with Victoria’s Great Canadian Beer Festival, it’s one of the most long-time, well-known and respected celebrations on the BC craft brewing calendar. One major reason is that it hosts something few festivals do: a formal beer judging program. Each year, a coterie of experienced beer judges gathers from around Western Canada and spends a Saturday morning evaluating dozens of beer samples.

See these judges hard at work! Not everyone can handle this pressure 😎

From this session comes the coveted Fest of Ale brewing awards, held right on the spot Saturday afternoon. That makes for many memorable moments as hard-working brewers and craft beverage industry members receive tangible recognition of their work. Check out last year’s winners to see how the program breaks down.

Oliver BC’s Firehall Brewery was the big winner in the 2023 Fest of Ale Judge’s Choice Awards

It’s all for a good cause, since Fest Of Ale is the BC beer fest fundraising champion. Over the years, more than $800,000 in net proceeds have been donated to local community causes—an insane amount. Every drink token you purchase is doing at least two good things!

The backbone behind Fest of Ale: long-time volunteers behind the scenes

The event starts at 4pm on Friday April 12th, then resumes at noon the next day. The single day entrance fee is $42 plus fees for either session. However, the Two Day Pass is just $57 + fees, making it the value deal to go for, even if you get beered out when it wraps up at 6:00pm Saturday!

Beer bloggers toast the community spirit you’re going to enjoy at Fest of Ale

The Details

27th Okanagan Fest of Ale
April 12th & 13th, 2024
Penticton Trade and Convention Centre
273 Power St, Penticton, BC V2A 7K9

Tickets ≫

Accomodations ≫

Memories Gallery: 26th Fest of Ale, April 2023

📷 What’s Brewing: our favourite pics from last year:
Indoors, outdoors, beer judging and afterparty!

The bar counter with apparatus for tap dispensing beer.

Dave Smith

Editor of What's Brewing Magazine and Beer Me BC. Past contributor to Northwest Brewing News, The Publican/Quarterly Pour and BC Ale Trail. Became a craft beer evangelist in 1999, a CAMRA BC member in 2005, and an accredited member of the BC Association of Travel Writers in the 2010s. Along with wife Ivana, Dave travels Cascadia as half of the beer duo BeerSeekers.

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Okanagan Fest of Ale Traditions: Cheers, Charity & Community