A new outdoor space for community members and visitors to gather has officially opened in downtown Penticton, just in time for summer.
The Downtown Penticton Business Improvement Association (BIA), along with the city and other local partners, has set up the Community Pop-up Project at the corner of Main Street and White Avenue.
“The project is really aimed to be able to come into an area that is underutilized such as this lot, which was just a kind of a dirt lot since the art gallery burned down here many years ago,” said BIA’s executive director Brett Turner.
“And come in and provide some vibrancy, provide a community space and have it be a place to hang out in a reimagined space and we’ll be able to host a couple of events at the site too.”
The project is also meant to draw attention to a block of Main Street that is often overlooked during events.
“The 400 to 700 blocks of Main Street have really been asking the BIA for a long time, what can we do up this way? Because the 100 to 300 blocks got the nice flowerpots, irrigation — those blocks have been beautified years ago,” said Turner.
“We really wanted to provide our members up this way with something that really helps out with that and bring some attention here.”
The Community Pop-up Project is surrounded by many local businesses and restaurants, including Kin & Folk.
The owner, Mack Davis, echoes the same desire for more attention in the 400 to 700 blocks of Main Street.
“It’s a super exciting adventure. With a lot of the fun energy and exciting events happen down at Gyro Park, closer down that way, it’s really fun to bring some excitement and some new energy to the 500 block and up this way,” Davis said.
“We haven’t really felt the love recently and so we’re excited to have some cool events and draw people up this way.”
The park itself is open daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. for people to sit at the picnic tables.
A large QR code is available on site with a list of nearby restaurants to order takeout from to bring to the park.
“We’re really all about support the entire community and all the businesses down here and so we wanted to make sure that we were showing the love to the rest of the business in this area,” Davis said.
“So, you can scan the QR code, get takeout from Theos, or sushi and all the other places in the area and then they’ll come and drop it off for you.”
The association has also planned a number of initiatives throughout the summer that will run in co-ordination with larger city events.
During each event, Kin & Folk restaurant will pop up in the C Can on site.
“We’ve got ‘street eats and beats’ going on here in downtown Penticton to transform this area with four different initiatives during the summer,” Davis said.
“Kin & Folk will be offering up some fun cocktails and non-alcoholic cocktails and some other fun things.”
The Community Pop-Up Project events will take place on four dates this year, starting mid-June.
- Thursday, June 20: Peach City Beach Cruise partnership will feature a mini car show adjacent to the lot, live rock music by Room to Dance and a food vendor popup.
- Thursday, July 11: Night market in collaboration with local businesses will include around 30 vendors, live music from Shalisa and a food vendor popup.
- Monday, Aug. 5: Official offsite location for the Penticton Peach Festival will include live music from Get Chico and a food vendor popup.
- Thursday, Sept. 5: Pentastic Hot Jazz Festival partnership will feature live music from Yanti and Co and a food vendor pop-up.
More event information can be found on the Downtown Penticton Business Improvement Association website.