Sun Peaks will see plenty of events this summer

It’s hard to believe, but things are getting back to normal. The sight of bare faces in public, indoor spaces is once again a day-to-day reality (as startling as it all seems).   

The lessening of restrictions comes as a great relief to the province’s tourism industry, which was especially hard hit by travel restrictions. 

Here in Sun Peaks, things are picking up, with a significant number of events planned for the summer and fall.

Some of the larger events, such as the resort’s annual Retro Concert Weekend, are not happening, but many of the smaller performances that keep the village buzzing and kids happy are. 

With rule changes only recently changed to allow greater outdoor and indoor gatherings, one might wonder, how did Tourism Sun Peaks (TSP) coordinate all these events in such short order?  

Well…apparently they can predict the future.Or at least had the foresight to prepare for a good-case scenario.

 “We were anticipating that things would open up,” explained Arlene Schieven, president and chief executive officer of Tourism Sun Peaks (TSP).  

“So basically we just made sure that anybody that we were hiring was flexible, in case we had to cancel, and (thankfully) everybody understood.”

In terms of visitiation, Schieven said things are tracking in a positive direction for this summer.

“Well, it’s definitely pacing ahead of last summer, which is great to see,” she said, adding that unforeseen events and the province’s forest fire season could impact those numbers. 

In order to get the word out that Sun Peaks is open for business, TSP has been gradually resuming its marketing efforts, which highlight the resort’s diverse summertime offerings. 

This started in the middle of June, with marketing exclusively in the Interior Health Authority region. On June 15, it began advertising in the rest of the province, and as of July 1, TSP has also been advertising in Alberta as well. 

These markets represent the full extent of TSP’s traditional summertime marketing efforts, though of course they started later than usual.  

As usual, the lion’s share of Sun Peaks events are family friendly, but others appeal to a wider range of people.

Some summer highlights include: 

— Family Weeks (Weekly running mid-week, July 19 to August 13, 2021) 
— CircusWest performance (July 24) 
— The Sun Peaks Market Day will take place every Sunday (until Oct. 10). 
— Kids 16 and under golf free with an adult (July 5 and 11) 
— A vintage Porsche show (July 10)
— A yoga and brunch event at Cahilty Creek Kitchen & Taproom hosted by Sun Peaks Yoga (July 18, cost $40) 
— Laughing Loggers Lumberjack show ( July 31 and Aug 1) 

With a suite of changes to COVID protocol, local businesses are also adapting. 

In the village, you may have noticed new signage highlighting the resort’s messages on everything from mask recommendations to capacity limits. 

An an effort to increase consumer confidence as businesses start to return to more normal operations in accordance with BC͛’s Restart plan, the province has launched a COVID-19 safety certificate program, called BSAFE. 

The program is free for employees of tourism and hospitality businesses to take, and B.C. organizations participating in the training program will receive a decal to make it easy for visitors to identify that staff have taken BSAFE training.

“BSAFE is a turn-key, accessible solution that businesses of all sizes and regions can easily integrate into their training activities, and go2HR is proud to offer our expertise in human  resources, health and safety, and training in support of BC͛s Restart plan,” said Krista Bax, CEO, go2HR.

To find out more about the BSAFE program, check out: https://www.go2hr.ca.

You can find a full rundown of Sun Peaks summer events can be found online on their events calendar.