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Thirst for Okanagan Fest of Ale grows as event officially sells out

The festival has been on hiatus since 2019
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Fest of Ale will return to Penticton in May 2022 this time outdoors at Okanagan Lake Park. (File photo)

The Okanagan Fest of Ale is expected is look a little different in 2022 but hasn’t stopped people from getting ready to satisfy their thirst.

As opposed to hosting the community for a two-day, indoor event, the festival is returning from its COVID-19 hiatus with a one-day extraordinaire at Penticton’s Okanagan Lake Park on May 14.

Tickets for one of the largest and longest-running beer festivals in B.C. are officially sold out, according to the event’s website.

An announcement in December confirmed the festival’s anticipated pivot to an outdoor-style gathering.

“The board of directors have made the careful decision to change our annual event to a one-day, outdoor craft beer festival for 2022,” said Fest of Ale president John Cruickshank last winter.

The festival is celebrating its 25-year anniversary in 2022. To date, the non-profit society has netted over $750,000 in proceeds which have gone back into the community.

In 2019, the festival featured 65 vendors and over 175 brews, ciders and ales.

The Fest of Ale was founded in 1996 after the original owner of Penticton’s Tin Whistle wanted to start an Okanagan-based beer festival after attending one in Victoria.

Since then, the event has been a community success each year.

The 2022 edition of the festival will run from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. this Saturday, May 14.

READ MORE: The start of the South Okanagan’s brewery scene can be traced back to 1994


@lgllockhart
logan.lockhart@pentictonwesternnews.com

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