The Laurel Packinghouse is a multi-purpose heritage building in the heart of Kelowna’s vibrant Cultural District. It houses the Okanagan Wine and Orchard Museum, supports a variety of educational museum programs, and anchors a unique outdoor museum, the Laurel Square. “The Laurel” is a popular venue for community events. The unique and atmospheric rental hall welcomes thousands of guests every year for fundraisers, fairs, workshops, weddings, public gatherings and corporate events. In addition, the “Orchard Room” is a gallery of the museum which is available for smaller meetings and gatherings.
Hours
| Thursday – Saturday | 10:00am – 5:00pm |
| Sunday – Wednesday | Closed |
ADMISSION
Admission is by donation.
Suggested donation $5 per person/$15 per family
More to explore at
“The Laurel”
Unearth the agricultural treasures that make our region unique at the Okanagan Wine and Orchard Museum in the historic Laurel Packinghouse. Vibrantly coloured fruit crates, fierce-looking equipment and a live beehive (in season) are juxtaposed with barrels, bottles and machinery. Meet the determined people who lived the trials and triumphs of the tree fruit and wine industries. Discover how growing, processing, transporting and enjoying tree fruits and wine diversified our landscape and communities.
A historic Kelowna building
Renting the Laurel Packinghouse
Contact us to learn more about renting the Laurel Packinghouse for your event. Ask about including the back deck, Laurel Square, or museum gallery in your rental!
We continue to follow Provincial Health guidelines and will update our policy on rentals as these guidelines change.
Kelowna’s Favourite Historic Venue
The Laurel Packinghouse was built in 1917 and completed in 1918, using bricks made locally from Knox Mountain clay. At that time, what is now Kelowna’s Cultural District was packed with fruit warehouses, packinghouses, canneries, and a sawmill. Horses, boxcars, and trucks jostled for position on tracks and dirt roads.
A fire in the 1960s destroyed much of the industrial district, but the Laurel was a working packinghouse until the 1970s. When it was slated for demolition in 1982, members of the community rallied to save it, making it Kelowna’s first designated heritage building. The building was revitalized in 2010.
Okanagan Wine and Orchard Museum
Conveyors groaned with colourful fruit, and workers sorted and loaded apples, cherries, apricots, pears, peaches, and plums while the box maker built 100 fruit crates every hour. But the busiest bees in the orchard industry are still at work. “Bee” mesmerized by the activity in the live demonstration hive.
The Okanagan wine industry has boomed, bringing huge changes to our region. Learn interesting stories of wines, wineries, wine makers, entrepreneurs, and the trials and triumphs of the industry.
Kelowna Museums’ Upcoming Events and Workshops
nakulamen (What We Do): Indigenous Plants and Herbal Balms
nakulamen (What We Do): Indigenous Plants and Herbal Balms
Participants will learn about plants and medicine, sample herbal balms, and make their own to take home. Plant samples have been respectfully collected on the land by syilx Knowledge Carriers.
Learning a Language: nsyilxcen for Everyone Level 1
Learning a Language: nsyilxcen for Everyone Level 1
Would you like to greet students or visitors in nsyilxcən? Would you like to master some basic vocabulary, and gain a deeper understanding of syilx culture and connection to place? This workshop will give participants a start on pronunciation, greetings and language me...
Let’s Get Batty!
Let's Get Batty!
Join us on October 27 from 1:30 to 3:00 PM for a spooktacular family-friendly event! Come dressed in your favorite costume (or bat costume!) and enjoy a fun-filled afternoon with activities, a photo booth, and plenty of ways to learn about our local bat friends as we ce...