Get ready to warm up with this February music festival

The season may be cold, but Kelowna will be heating up with an upcoming arts and music festival.

Fireside Festival began ten years ago as a way to bring together local artists who are never able to see each other play due to conflicting touring schedules.

Its humble origins started in a lakeside home where the artists played all day and all night by a roaring fireplace on a cozy Sunday in January.

Since its conception, the festival has grown by leaps and bounds and so have the venues, artist roster, and audience.

In 2023, the event is spread over two venues with more than 30 artists.

“We specifically love having the festival at this time of year; the holidays are over and it’s this bleak time,” Fireside’s Director of Operations Heather Leslie told Kelowna10.

“We’re just looking at this gray landscape and we get to offer this splash of colour and community and vibrance, and it’s something so special to have the community come together. It’s the perfect time, really.”

Leslie said the festival draws inspiration from winter music festivals in Eastern Canada, such as Winterlude or Igloo Fest.

After a two-year hiatus, the event is excitedly returning, and it is stacked with an eclectic mix of performers.

“We bring together some big names and couple them with some upcoming artists and people who normally wouldn’t share the stage with some bigger names,” she said. “It’s a really intimate setting and it’s an experience like no other.”

The lineup will include local favourites such as Kentucky Eileen, all the way to bigger names like Neon Steve.

Fireside Festival will kick off on Feb. 3 at Red Bird Brewing, staying in the same location on the following day, then moving to BNA Brewing Co. for it’s final day on Feb 5.

Tickets are available online.