Cultural Plan
City of Kelowna Cultural Plan (2027 and beyond)
The City of Kelowna is creating a new Cultural Plan for 2027 and beyond, and we’re putting community at the centre. This plan will reflect Kelowna’s values, creativity, and diversity, and guide how we support arts and culture across the city for years to come.
Community Voices Matter
We want to hear from you! Whether you're an artist, performer, organizer, supporter, or simply love experiencing local culture—your input is essential. We’ll be connecting with the community through:
- Creative activities and events
- A semi-permanent engagement space called the Living Lab
- Online surveys and feedback tools
- Digital platforms and social media
Why It Matters
Culture plays a key role in our local economy, community wellbeing, and tourism. This plan will help us grow and support the creative sector in ways that are inclusive, responsive, and inspiring. Together, we’ll build on the success of Kelowna’s 2020–2025 Cultural Plan to reflect what’s most important to our community today.
Be Part of the Process
- Stay connected!
- Follow the City on social media
- Sign up for Arts and Culture e-updates
- Take part in upcoming events and surveys
Join our Community Working Group
We are pleased to invite expressions of interest from passionate and visionary individuals within the arts, culture, and heritage community to join the City of Kelowna’s 2025 Arts, Culture & Heritage Community Working Group to develop the City of Kelowna’s Cultural Plan (2027 and beyond).
This is an exciting opportunity to contribute your experience, insights, and passion toward the advancement of arts, culture, and heritage in our community.
Ideal candidates will be:
- Articulate visionaries with demonstrated experience in arts, culture, and heritage
- Actively engaged and knowledgeable about the City of Kelowna’s services and cultural ecosystem
- Respected community champions for arts, culture, and heritage
- Willing to serve as individuals (not representatives of an organization or group)
- Passionate about driving positive change and fostering a vibrant cultural future
- Strategic thinkers who are open to new approaches and fresh ideas
- In the following communities (arts and culture non-profit groups, tourism, economic development, business improvement associations, diverse cultural groups, social wellness and justice groups, recreation organizations, environmental groups
Time Commitment: Takes place over Summer 2025 to Fall 2026
- Four in-person workshops (approximately 12-15 hours of attendance)
- Estimated 15 hours of reading, review and preparation time
Interested?
We hope you will consider lending your voice, leadership, and vision to this important initiative! Submit a short expression of interest outlining their qualifications and motivation for joining the Community Working Group.
Deadline: June 27th, 2025, at 3:00 p.m.
2020-2025 Cultural Plan
Council endorsed the 2020-2025 Cultural Plan on Sept. 16, 2019. This plan set priorities for the enhancement of cultural vitality and community spaces, and aligned with the Imagine Kelowna goal of an engaging arts and culture scene. Most importantly, this plan set a course for the creative sector to provide accessible, diverse and inclusive experiences, use resources effectively, leverage opportunities, and be innovative and forward thinking. The plan also highlighted the value of partnerships and cooperation.
Cultural Plan Progress Report Card
The bi-annual Cultural Plan Progress Report Card reviews the progress made toward strategic outcomes in the 2020-2025 Cultural Plan. This report card covers a period of unprecedented challenges and uncertainty.
Get inspired by the by the artists, performers, community leaders and citizens that have helped to shape our Cultural Plan progress to date.
With support from the University of British Columbia Okanagan, we used data analytics and machine learning to identify trends, patterns and insights into citizen's engagements with culture in Kelowna from an unbiased lens. These outcomes helped developed the 2020-2025 Cultural Plan.
In support of the development of the 2020-2025 Cultural Plan, a consultant was hired to complete an economic impact study of the creative sector of Kelowna. The assessment includes analysis of available statistical data, a confidential online survey and information from public sources to generate estimates of employment, revenue and income.
Key highlights from the report include:
- Kelowna’s creative sector more than doubled in size from 2009 to 2018
- 1.5 million people per year, or just over 4,000 people per day on average, attend some type of cultural facility or event
- 3,168 full time employees work in the creative sector, up from 1,279 in 2009
- 60% of those working in the creative sector are self employed
- In 2018 alone, 380,000 volunteer hours were contributed to arts, culture and heritage organizations
- There are 626 creative sector establishments in 2018, up from 342 in 2009
- The creative sector saw an income growth of 43% from 2009-2018
Kelowna Creative Sector Economic Impact Assessment Report
Slides from Kelowna Creative Sector Economic Impact Presentation
The Cultural Plan is an opportunity to increase the visual presence of syilx creativity in our community. Therefore, as part of the process of engagement for the Cultural Plan, we initiated a conversation with Carrie Terbasket of Stands Above Consulting, who supported us to begin this journey of open dialogue and discussion with the syilx arts and culture community.
The purpose was to receive guidance toward establishing meaningful and deliberate syilx/Okanagan inclusion within the 2020-2025 Cultural Plan through applicable background information and recommendations for consideration. The scope of work was limited to recommendations specific to the advancement of arts, culture and heritage by the creative sector of Kelowna (inclusive of the City of Kelowna as an entity).
It’s acknowledged that this work is only a starting point to the commitment and long-term organic process by the arts and culture sector toward reconciliation. The report is only intended as input and the recommendations are considered along with all feedback received from the community. The importance of partnership with our First Nations is a worthwhile and a long-term commitment to relationship building.
The Cultural Facilities Master Plan (CFMP) builds on prior efforts to strengthen commitment to cultural facility development.
Learn more about the CFMP on our Cultural District page, or view the full Cultural Facilities Master Plan here.
Kelowna's first Cultural Plan (2012-2017) was launched in 2012 to encourage and integrate local culture within all neighbourhoods of Kelowna. Starting in 2018 through to July 2019, we reviewed the progress made based on the plan’s goals. Based on our findings, we produced the 2012-2017 Cultural Plan Report Card to demonstrate the progress our community has made toward achieving the goals of the 2012-2017 Cultural Plan.
2012-2017 Cultural Plan Report Card
