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The Kelowna Curling Club is gearing up for a busy spring and summer.
While they have offered pickleball during the past few off-seasons, this year they're getting back to their pre-pandemic schedule and filling their space with trade shows and events instead.
“We’ve got the gem show, the tattoo show, the Hopscotch Festival and a nine-day pool tournament with 40 tables,” says Jock Tyre, the general manager of the Kelowna Curling Club.
This upcoming weekend, Craft Culture will be kicking off the scheduled events with over 135 vendors at their spring market.
“We’ve got a lot of private events as well with some corporate, anniversary and birthday bookings with over 100 people,” Tyre adds.
“It’s fully air conditioned, so it’s a great place to host something.”
The Kelowna Curling Club was unable to host their usual off-season events during the pandemic, so they leaned into pickleball to keep people employed and the building active.
“It wasn’t paying any bills at all, so it just wasn’t worth keeping,” Tyre explains. “But we’re hoping someday to get back at it.”
“Our long term plan is to build some sort of a patio with the restaurant, and then the building is open anyway, so we can have the inside available for pickleball.”
In the meantime, the Kelowna Curling Club is not abandoning pickleball completely, as they have worked out a deal with Pickleball Kelowna to host lessons on Mondays.
"We're also putting summer curling in our arena, so all those things add up to being more viable in the summer," Tyre says.
Anyone interested in hosting an event at the Kelowna Curling Club can contact them here.