Oliver Roots and Fruits

A Day
full of
fun!

Check out this years Activities and Demonstrations:

  • Roots and Fruits Arts Show;
  • Art demonstrations by local Spinners & Weavers, Quilters and more;
  • Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre exhibit;
  • beverage garden featuring local beer, cider and wine;
  • pop-up market;
  • waterslide and bouncy castles;
  • giant sandbox;
  • henna tattoos;
  • gold panning;
  • kids’ art stations;
  • food trucks;
  • Vegetable Car Races;
  • Kids Lego tent;
  • AND MORE
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Roots & Fruits Exhibit Hall:

Is your baking, artwork or produce blue-ribbon worthy? Now’s the time to prove it! Showcase your artistic, culinary and gardening talents at this year’s Roots and Fruits Exhibition! Plan to enter your tastiest baking, best art, craziest-looking produce, and more in the Roots and Fruits Exhibition, set to take over the Community Hall throughout the Roots and Fruits Expo.

Competitive categories include everything from collage to photography to sculpture, tomatoes to flowers to garlic, cookies to bread to canning. Kids are invited to participate too, with categories for those aged 5 and under, 6-8, 9-12 and 13-15. Full details about the Exhibition including all entry categories are located in the prize book.

The Roots and Fruits Expo is designed to bring our townspeople together, to build community, to celebrate where we’ve come from and to look forward to where we’re going.

Entertainment Schedule:

Unfortunately due to current conditions and out of respect for our friends and neighbors that are fighting fires, working for emergency services, or evacuating their own properties we have decided to cancel the parade.
 
We are sorry for the inconvenience and hope everybody has a safe weekend.
 
At this time our Rock and Roll picnic in the park tonight and our Roots and Fruits festival tomorrow are still a go.

After the parade, come right on down to the Oliver Community Park for the Roots and Fruits Expo. This year’s line-up is HUGE, including non-stop music and entertainment on two stages, art demonstrations, The Roots and Fruits Exhibit Hall, tons of kids’ activities, and vendors right through until evening.

Official welcome by Osoyoos Indian Band, Dignataries and the Oliver Ambassadors.

Celebrity Dunk Tank Time! – Dunk Tank in the Park

For the last ten years 13 Broken Bones has been rockin’ the Thompson, Okanagan, Similkameen and Kootenays. Based in Penticton, this 5 piece band is a fan favourite, playing classic rock hits from the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. With powerful vocals, backed by great musicianship, you’ll definitely want to be up dancing and singing along with these high energy rockers. “Pubs, clubs and festivals – Big or small, we rock them all”

Son of John is a country/roots duo from Castlegar, British Columbia and if you can’t tell, they’re father & son.
Johnny P. Johnson has been making music for over 25 years as a solo artist and front man, His son Javan Johnson, is a multi-instrumentalist and emerging country singer/songwriter. They’ve been playing music together for over a decade and in 2017, they decided to join forces and form the duo, Son of John – the name chosen as a play on their shared last name.
Son of John released their debut single Country Pure in June 2019, followed by a music video shortly after. It was named by Front Porch Music Blog as one of the Top 10 Country Songs of 2019, and the fiddle was described as “bad-ass” by the producer of the Country Pure video. At the start of the 2020 pandemic, Son of John released their second single, Better Than That and while the world was shut down, created a “quarantine” homemade music video that scored Javan a Video Director of the Year nomination at the 2020 BC Country Music Awards. Javan is also a 4x nominee for Fiddle/Mandolin Player of the Year, and Son of John proudly scored their third BCCMA nomination for Traditional Country/Roots Artist of the Year in 2022. Son of John has appeared at multiple venues across Western Canadaincluding the iconic Dream Cafe in Penticton, BC, the Roxy Cabaret in Vancouver, Gabby’s Country Cabaret inLangley, The OK Corral in Kelowna, and the Calgary Stampede.
Son of John doesn’t quite fit the mold – on purpose. Country runs deep in their veins, with Johnny actively farming each year on the Saskatchewan prairies where he was born and raised and Javan growing up on the river in the mountains on the family farm in rural BC. So, you can say Son of John doesn’t make “fake country songs’, with their rootsy instrumentations – fiddle, mandolin, banjos and dobros, – capturing an authentic acoustic sound. With or without their full band on stage, their live show can bring the two-step to the party, or they can croon with harmonies only the same DNA can create. 

Son of John perfectly blends two generations of country music together.

In early 2021, Son of John released their third single, Lonely Door, that was featured in The Bluegrass Situation, a popular US Americana publication . The sad fiddle and harmonies deliver a tale of love, loss and longing that hits close to home. And in October, Son of John “secretly” released Put Your Hands Up, their fourth and final single before dropping their debut 10-song album, in early 2023.
The music video for Put Your Hands Up is premiering in June 2022, thanks to Creative BC and Front Porch.

Maiya Robbie’s music bridges between ‘future folk’, traditional styles, and ethereal rock. It’s accessible, and it’s aim is to the very heart of things…all of it grounded by Stefan Bienz on stand up, bringing his indelible bass skill and style. Find songs and more at maiyarobbie.com/music or at Maiya.bandcamp.com 

Dirt Road Opera’s music speaks for itself in a band with two JUNO nominees, both lead singers, and two multi-instrumentalists. Their songs encompass a variety of genres ranging from original ballads like Hard to Find to the hillbilly rock of Nowheresville.
The band recently won all six People’s Choice Awards they were nominated for: Country Group, Folk/Roots Group, Video, Single, Songwriter and Album.
Rachel Matkin is a gifted vocalist, singing professionally since the age of seven. Her stunning voice is unique and has garnered numerous awards and praise from both critics and peers alike.
Barry Mathers is an award-winning songwriter and one of the lead singers for DRO. He plays guitar, mandolin, and harmonica as well as producing the band’s records and videos.
Multi-instrumentalist Robert Bailey brings his many talents to the band. Pedal steel, guitar, keyboards, bass, and banjo are all part of his musical arsenal.
Mike Brown, the newest member of the band is a multi-instrumentalist as well, equally at home on acoustic, electric and slide guitar as well as mandolin.   
Three-part harmonies, great songwriting, and stellar musicianship are the essence of this roots/Americana band hailing from Kelowna, BC.

7:00pm – Activity Stations & Exhibits close

The band was formed a year ago by Sergio Intile, a well known performer in the Okanagan Valley formerly part of bands such as KilGilligan, SteelToad and The Verge and production band Stardust Tribute.  Big Boss Man started with recruiting drummer Brady Ives and keyboardist Paul Toering.  Jack Narstead on bass and Lorne Clarke on lead guitar joined the band next after a few member changes.  The group plays upbeat danceable Rhythm and Blues with a mix of Rock with Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Powder Blues, Colin James and Elvis being some of the artists covered.

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