Seed Saturday
The earliest event of the market year is Seedy Saturday (Tribute to Seeds in Covid years).
The first Seedy Saturday in Kamloops was held in 2009 by the Friends of the New Victory Gardens to promote seed saving and growing food. A few years later it became an event jointly hosted by Friends of NVG and the Thompson Shuswap Master Gardeners in an effort to improve the local supply of seeds via a seed sanctuary. It was organized by them for a few more years before it was passed on to Daniela Basile of SSOL Gardens. Daniela approached the Kamloops Farmers’ Market about hosting it as a special event in the early spring, and it has been a jointly held event since then. In 2022 Daniela handed over the organization to the Farmers’ Market staff to enjoy a well earned retirement.
The Seedy Saturday event brings together interested gardeners and local BC seed growers, community groups like The Kamloops Food Policy Council, FarmFolk CityFolk, Seeds of Diversity, local suppliers of gardening supplies, including Jora Composters, along with many regular market vendors including farmers, bakers and other food makers from our region.
From 2020 to 2022 it was held as a special Indoor Winter Market in March at the Purity Feed Greenhouse (471 Okanagan Way, Tk’emlups te Secwepemc).
Starting in 2023 Seedy Saturday has been held at a new location at the Mount Paul Community Food Centre on the 2nd Saturday in March.
The 2024 Seedy Saturday is scheduled for March 9th from 10 AM to 2 PM at the Mount Paul Community Food Centre (140 Laburnum Street on the North Shore of Kamloops). Come check out local seed options, local growers and food makers and more.
Pollinator Festival
Started in 2022 the Pollinator Festival, is an annual community celebration of the important role pollinators play in the health and well-being of our ecosystem. It is a community event inviting participation from the general public, businesses, and non-profit communities.
Pollinators are very important to farmers, gardeners, and ecosystems, therefore their well-being is important to us as well. Most people think of honey bees when pollinators are mentioned, but they also include native bees like bumble bees, mason bees, and more, as well as butterflies, moths, flies, wasps, beetles, birds, and bats (although not in Canada).
The 2024 Pollinator Festival is scheduled to happen from May 11th to 18th. In the meantime check out the resources below to learn more about fabulous pollinators.
Follow our social media pages for details about the festival for check back to this page for more information.
2024 Festival Schedule - follow our social media or check back in late April for schedule updates.
May 11th
The Thompson Shuswap Master Gardeners will be in attendance with several displays including native bees from the BC Native Bee Society, information about native bee habitats, a hands on craft for children, and more.
The Kamloops Art Gallery (KAG) will be in attendance with their Portable Art Cycling Kit (PACK) and will have hands on art activities for kids to partake of.
At 10 AM participants of the Pollinator Parade will meet at the KAG booth in the Stuart Wood schoolyard. Once gathered we will go for a short parade through the market area and return to the booth in the schoolyard. The parade is open to all pollinator enthusiasts, young and old. We encourage you to dress up as your favourite pollinator whether that be bat, bee, beetle, fly, or bird.
May 14th
Time to be announced. Join Butler Urban Farm (BUF) coordinator, Elliot Andrew, for a tour of the farm and the native pollinator garden planted to support pollinators and the farm. The BUF is a program of the Kamloops Food Policy Council.
May 18th
The Kamloops Naturalist Club will be in attendance at market to share information about their projects, including the Nature Friendly Yards Study Group, and more.
The Kamloops Beekeepers Club will be on hand to share information about honeybees and beekeeping.
May 18th, 1:30 to 3:30 PM, Pollinator Festival Book Club (Free). For more information or to register via Event Brite click here. The book club meeting will be held at the Thompson Nicola Regional District Kamloops Library location at 100 - 465 Victoria St.
Resources:
BeeCityPledge: https://beecitycanada.org/pollinator-pledge/ (individuals can pledge to protect and support pollinators)
An awesome opinion piece by a beekeeper on the importance of native pollinators like bumble bees: https://undark.org/2022/02/03/the-bumblebees-decline-shows-how-we-get-conservation-wrong/
For more information on protecting and supporting pollinators see: https://seeds.ca/pollination/
Ecoregional Planting Guide for the Thompson Okanagan Plateau: https://pollinatorpartnership.ca/assets/generalFiles/Thompson_Okanagan.Plateau.2019.pdf
How to Turn Your Yard Into an Ecological Oasis from Yes Magazine. An informative article on the importance of pollinators to ecosystem health.
Information on Bats as Pollinators (note Canada does not have any pollinator bats): https://www.batcon.org/article/the-forgotten-pollinators/
Tomato Festival
The Tomato Festival started as an event of the TRU Friends of the Garden in 2012 which was held at the Kamloops Farmers’ Market. Eventually the organization of the event was taken up by the market.
We encourage Kamloopsians to grow and enjoy locally grown tomatoes whether from your own yard, the farmers’ market, or one of the many local restaurants and cafes which support local in-season agriculture.
Tomato Festival dates for 2024 are September 7th through 14th.
We plan to have several community groups attending Kamloops Farmers’ Markets to help celebrate our local love of tomatoes and to raise awareness about local food security and food sovereignty.
We invite everyone in the Kamloops / Tk’emlups te Secwepemc area to share their love of tomatoes by using the hashtag #KamloopsTomatoFestival.
Do check our our social media and the Kamloops Tomato Festival hashtag and help us celebrate tomatoes, and local food.
2024 Tomato Festival Schedule - follow our social media or check back in late August for schedule updates.
Street Food Fare
The first Street Food Fare at the Kamloops Farmers’ Market was held in October 2019 as part of our participation in Kamloops’ Culture Days events. Due to Covid it has been on hiatus since then but we hope it will be back soon.