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Penticton and area residents have the chance to sip wine and talk food with elite culinary and wine professionals at Okanagan College next week. 

OC Cultivates is happening at the Penticton campus on Friday, Oct. 25, and will celebrate B.C. innovators in food, beverage and tourism, encouraging people to support homegrown talent. 

Featured guests include:

• Nk’Mip Cellars Winemaker and OC alum Justin Hall, known as one of the first Indigenous winemakers in North America

• Kathy Malone, the Winemaker at Hillside Winery and a longtime advocate for local terroir

• Certified Master Chef Tobias MacDonald, one of only a handful to hold that designation, as well as being a former Team Canada member at the culinary Olympics, currently a Chef instructor at Vancouver Community College

• Chef Kelsey Oudendag, Red Seal chef and culinary instructor at OC 

• Thomas Tumbach, agricultural entrepreneur and owner of LocalMotive Low Waste in Summerland

• Michael Magnusson, Executive Director of the Penticton and Wine Country Chamber of Commerce, and experience tourism professional

“OC Cultivates is an exciting event for us to be able to bring together experts from the food, beverage and tourism industries, to learn from them, so we can continue to build programming to support those industries,” says Joe Baker, OC’s Dean of Business. 

“We know there is a huge appetite in this region to see B.C. chefs, restaurants, wineries and breweries be successful – not just here, but on the world stage. Okanagan College is able to bring the best of the best from these groups together and connect them with our students – many who are keen to work in the sector,” Baker adds.

Part of the Okanagan Fall Wine Festival events, the evening will showcase the Okanagan’s unique and exciting food, beverage and tourism industries through a conversation with industry experts, along with a sampling of drinks and delicious pairings from local producers and restaurants. 

“We live in such an incredible part of the world when it comes to the food that we have available to us,” says Chef Kelsey Oudendag, feature speaker and instructor in the culinary program at Okanagan College in Kelowna. “We teach our students about working with local farmers and within our local area to provide top notch cuisine.”  

The event will feature an exclusive tasting festival, running from 5:30 – 7: 30 p.m. with local beverage and food vendors, including tastes from Elma, Highway 97 Brewery, Maison Mulnati, OC’s Culinary team, Sysco, Township 7 Vineyards and Winery, Upper Bench Estate Winery and more.

The tasting and experience festival will be followed by conversations and audience Q & As with industry leaders, beginning at 7:30 p.m.

The BC Beverage Technology Access Centre, located at Penticton campus, will also be participating. Part of OC’s applied research portfolio, the Centre provides a range of research, innovation and training services to beverage producers across the province. 

Okanagan College features several programs designed to support the food, beverage and tourism industries and support the local the regional workforce. This includes OC’s Tourism Management Degree program, viticulture, wine sales and winery assistant certificate programs, as well as the ongoing Hospitality Professional Program.

Tickets for the Oct. 25 tasting festival and panel discussions are still available