Harvest season is in full swing and it’s time to celebrate all the hard-working farmers, growers, chefs, beverage creators and everyone involved in providing us with delicious things to eat and drink.
I love the harvest season. I love the cooler weather, the changing of the leaves, that certain crispness that you can feel in the air. I love the fruit and produce stands that dot the highways and byways to and from the wineries, cideries, meaderies and distilleries. It’s also my favourite time to go out and celebrate our great province.
Most of our communities celebrate the harvest season with festivals and events that showcase the bounty of BC. There’s the hot pepper festival in Keremeos called the Similkameen Sizzle, an Apple Harvest Festival in Vernon and the Westjet Wine Tasting (one of many wine events this fall) in Kelowna. The Lower Mainland has Food Truck Festivals in Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Down by the US border you’ll find fall fairs that celebrate bounty in Grand Forks and Rock Creek. As you head into the Thompson Valley, you’ll find more fall fairs and rodeos, all complete with great food and drink. Make your way up to the northern climes and you’ll find even more harvest celebrations in large and small communities. Farmers’ markets overflow with produce and there’s always fresh, home-baked pie for sale somewhere. Up in Prince George they celebrate the season with wine at Sip Fest. On Vancouver Island, there’s everything from beer festivals, to fungus festivals, to wine festivals. Then up at Haida Gwaii they celebrate fall with their Wild Harvest Festival and salmon derbies.
The wineries, cideries, meaderies and distilleries across BC hold myriad celebrations, from harvest and chef dinners to fall-inspired feasts, many of them in farmers’ fields. Some even have live music to keep you entertained while you enjoy their creations.
These events celebrate the hard work and the delicious abundance resulting from that work. Wherever you travel this fall, be sure to slow down a little and sip and savour along the way.