09/29/2026
🌶️ THAT’S A WRAP ON THE 2026 SIMILKAMEEN SIZZLE! 🌶️
Over the few days, we’ve heard the same thing more than once: “That was the best Sizzle yet.” And after the dust has settled (and we’ve had a chance to recover a little), we have to say: hearing that means more to us than you know!
The Similkameen Sizzle has always been a well-loved community event. Over the past five years, our small team has put a lot of time, thought, trial and error, and good old-fashioned hard work into taking this event to the next level. Each year, we’ve looked at what worked, what didn’t, what we could improve and what we could add - all while making sure Sizzle never loses the small-town charm and community spirit at its heart!
And this year, it really felt like we got to see the fruits of that labour. 🍎
The Similkameen Country Development Association (SCDA) is the host of the Similkameen Sizzle and a very small non-profit organization, with a small team and very limited funding. Much of what makes Sizzle possible comes directly from sponsorships and an incredible group of volunteers who have grown alongside this event.
Over the years, we’ve built a core Sizzle team around the strengths of the people who make it up. Staff, board members, volunteers, friends, husbands and wives have found their places in this slightly crazy operation and we couldn’t ask for a better crew!
From a prompt and smooth set-up, to fantastic entertainment, MCs and contest hosts, our amazing 50/50 crew, beverage garden operators, competition teams, information booth, sales, clean-up and everyone working behind the scenes: every piece matters. Many of these roles have been carefully built, adjusted and strengthened year after year, and seeing it all come together the way it did this year was really rewarding!
Because Sizzle is a lot of work. It’s long days, tons of planning, problem-solving on the fly and a whole lot of tired people by the end of Saturday! But when thousands of people fill Memorial Park, our vendors are busy, the music is playing, the contests are packed and we hear that people had an amazing day... it makes all of that work worth it!
And we’re not done.
We want to keep growing the Similkameen Sizzle while holding onto exactly what makes it special. We want it to always feel like the community festival we know and love, but we also want to invite more people from across B.C. and beyond to come experience it with us and celebrate the rich agricultural roots of the Similkameen, the incredible spicy products that come from them, and everything else our valley has to offer!
To every sponsor, partner, volunteer, vendor, performer, participant, community organization and business that supported this year’s Sizzle: THANK YOU!
With Valley First leading the way - not only through their generous financial support and contribution of event tents, but through the incredible support of their local branch team, who make up roughly half of our core volunteer crew year after year!
Please check out all the sponsors & partners we’ve featured on our page and show them some love. Give them a shoutout online, stop in and say thanks, or support them by purchasing a product or service. Their support helps make a free community event like Sizzle possible, and supporting them is one of the best ways you can support Sizzle, too. ❤️
And to every single person who came to Memorial Park, entered a contest, bought something from a vendor, grabbed a drink, danced to the music, ate something delicious, bought a 50/50 ticket or simply spent the day with us: thank you for showing up!
(Now tell your friends how awesome we are and bring them with you next year!)
Sizzle has become what it is because so many people continue to believe in it, support it and help us make it better.
Here’s to the 2026 Similkameen Sizzle, to everyone who made it happen and everyone who came out to enjoy it, and hopefully to many, many more Sizzles still to come. ❤️
