EVENT PROFILE SAME-SIDE STRATEGY How Kelowna brought together tourism, business, volunteers and residents to transform the Memorial Cup tournament into a celebration of place. BY DOUG WALLACE H OW DOES a city of roughly 165,000 host one of Canada’s biggest annual sporting events? By drawing on the team spirit of the whole town. This past May, the Kelowna Rockets hosted the 2026 Memorial Cup, Canada’s premier junior hockey championship. And as you might expect, it took a village, planning-wise, to get everyone in this BC city engaged and excited with all eyes on the prize. “When we started to develop our organizing committee, we involved people from the City of Kelowna, Tourism Kelowna and the Downtown Kelowna Association [who represented local businesses],” says Jillian Haller, the local event manager for the tournament and owner of tour company Signature Connections. The committee also included the executive director of Festivals Kelowna, who helped to curate event and entertainment programming, plus a representative from the Westbank First Nation. “We really had a well-rounded host committee trying to activate all aspects of the city to make sure stakeholders were aligned with what we were planning,” Haller adds. All the planning paid off, with the event delivering Kelowna a noticeable boost, according to Sara Correa Haslehurst, business development, membership, sports and events for Tourism Kelowna. “Hotels were busy, the downtown core saw an influx of visitors and residents, and many local businesses reported increased foot traffic and higher revenues.” In real numbers, the economic impact for the community was in the neighbourhood of $20 million. Correa Haslehurst says that many people stayed for the entire 10-day tournament, experiencing both Kelowna and the Okanagan Valley region. “Beyond the economic impact, the event also created a strong sense of community pride,” she adds. “It’s the biggest hockey tournament in Canada, but we really wanted it to be a city experience as well,” Haller adds. A family zone for kids and adults was set up at Stuart Park, complete with live music and a beer garden. Large screens became a focal point, allowing everyone to experience the action even if they weren’t inside the rink. “The goal was to have the whole city feel included, to kind of have a piece of the Memorial Cup.” The planning team also worked with the City of Kelowna on logistics like parking and transit, creating a program that offered free transit to people with game tickets or volunteer accreditation. PHOTOS: STEVE DUNSMOOR/CHL 24 ADRENALIN | FALL 2026 ADRENALINMAG.CA