Ready for the encore: Find yourself on the edge of your seat in The ‘Loops

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In concerts, it’s the encore – your favourite songs you’ve been hoping they’d play. In sports, it’s the overtime period or extra ends to decide the winner. In movies, theatre or art, it’s returning for that second or even third time to capture the nuances you might have missed while captivated the first time.

This winter you can experience it all in Kamloops – and keep coming back for more!

Of course, we know that any winter experience in the British Columbia Interior will likely involve outdoors pursuits – cutting wide arcs in the snow as you swoosh down a mountain or soaking in the winter sun during a hike or snowshoe adventure. But winter is also the creative season – the time to celebrate the arts in all its forms – and time to embrace those indoor sports that yes, just like your favourite performances, will leave you at the edge of your seat.

With that in mind, here’s a look at some of the best you can experience this winter in The Loops…

With the 2023 Scotties Tournament of Hearts taking place in Kamloops from Feb. 17 to 26, curling fans will cheer Canada’s top women curlers as they compete for national glory. Will your favourite team take top prize? Will it go to extra ends? Book your tickets today to be in the rink to find out! (And be sure to book your hotel at the same time, so you have a place to recuperate after all the excitement.)

Between games, curling fans and theatre buffs alike will want to Hurry Hard to Kamloops’ Sagebrush Theatre, where the must-see comedy by Kristen Da Silva, lights up the stage from Feb. 23 to March 4.

The Stagebrush Theatre plays host to a variety of arts events this winter. Photo courtesy Tourism Kamloops

Winner of the Stage West Award for Best New Comedy, Hurry Hard is a Canadian curling love story from one of the country’s hottest new comedic playwrights, who, with all the camaraderie of a great evening at the curling club, creates a story both hilarious and heartwarming. This is a tale of second chances and finding love that (pardon the pun) you won’t want to skip.

From magic on ice to magic on film, the Kamloops Film Festival returns March 2 to 11 to the Paramount Theatre. Celebrating its 27th anniversary, the festival features more than 20 fabulous feature films and accompanying events – everything from Films for a Cause to the ever-popular KISS Film Fest – also known as Kamloops Independent Short Shorts.

In a musical celebration of International Women’ Day, Canadian songstress Sarah Slean joins the Kamloops Symphony Orchestra for a genre-bending evening of Slean’s original music, performed along with songs by the legendary Joni Mitchell and other surprises. The four-time Juno Award nominee and two-time Gemini Award nominee brings An Evening with Sarah Slean to the Sagebrush Theatre stage March 10 and 11.

Rainbow Registered Tourism Kamloops is also excited for two premier events on the calendar that showcase and celebrate diversity.

Fans of the legendary RuPaul’s Drag Race will likely recognize Thorgy & The Thorchestra, lighting up the Sagebrush Theatre stage March 30 and 31. Showcasing the multi-instrumentalist and drag performer Thorgy Thor, this one-of-a-kind theatrical orchestra experience features a variety of hits, some traditional, others not so much, but all fabulous!

In Queer Newfoundland Hockey League (QNHL), showing at the Kamloops Art Gallery through April 1, Lucas Morneau proposes 14 fictional teams that reclaim, empower and amplify LGBTQIA2S+ voices. Photo courtesy Tourism Kamloops

Like music, film and theatre, art can at once engage, entertain and inform, and Queer Newfoundland Hockey League (QNHL), showing at the Kamloops Art Gallery through April 1, is the perfect example.

Playfully and provocatively challenging the prevalence of homophobia and hyper-masculinity in the culture of team sports, Lucas Morneau’s exhibition proposes 14 fictional teams, paired with places historically associated with senior hockey league teams in Newfoundland and Labrador, that reclaim, empower and amplify LGBTQIA2S+ voices.

With teams such as the St. John’s Sissies, Bonavista Buggers and Ferryland Fairies, represented by a hand-crocheted and rug-hooked jersey, doily goalie mask and hockey card modeled by men, women, and gender-nonconforming players, Morneau subverts pejoratives used against the LGBTQIA2S+ community.

Ready to plan your winter getaway to the ‘Loops? Visit tourismkamloops.com/winter today!