Community
Armstrong Spallumcheen sits at the north end of the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia. The City of Armstrong is small, walkable, and right alongside the regional highway. The highway runs past town, not through it, which means the historic downtown stays quiet. The Township of Spallumcheen, the area around Armstrong, is known nationally for its high-calibre farms.
What it feels like
Downtown Armstrong looks like a postcard. Old-timey facades, painted wayfinding signs, and an outdoor train station park. A couple of excellent bakeries, top-notch coffee shops, and a half-dozen restaurants and cafes line the main streets of the historic downtown. No big-box stores anywhere in the municipality. The retail listings in the chamber directory show what is here instead.
That absence is the point. Armstrong Spallumcheen kept its own character because nobody ever paved over it.
What’s here
Farms. Lots of farms. Spallumcheen Township wraps around Armstrong on three sides and most of that land is in agriculture. Dairy, vegetables, flowers, cheese, eggs, beef, and grain all come out of the valley. The chamber directory lists local farms and food producers, and the Armstrong Spallumcheen Grown program marks the businesses that grow and make it here. The Big Cheese festival started here in 2013 because cheese is part of the local culture. Read more about Armstrong’s cheese history.
The outdoor recreation is hard to overstate. Silver Star Mountain Resort sits forty-five minutes away for skiing and mountain biking. Kal Lake is thirty minutes south. Okanagan Lake is twenty-five minutes away for boating and swimming. Mara Lake is forty minutes north and Mabel Lake is forty-five minutes east. Hundreds of kilometers of forest service roads, snowmobile trails, motorcycle routes, and camping spots run out of the valley in every direction. Bicycling routes loop through farmland and forest. The North Okanagan Shuswap Barn Quilt Trail marks a driving route past painted barn quilts on farms across the region.
The chamber office at 3005 Wood Avenue also serves as the Visitor Centre. Stop by for in-person curated tourism tips, or contact the chamber ahead of time. Read more about the chamber’s role in tourism. The chamber also runs the Armstrong Odd Fellows Hall, a downtown venue that hosts meetings, classes, markets, and weddings.
The IPE, our fall fair
The Interior Provincial Exhibition and Stampede is the largest annual event in Armstrong. Locals call it the IPE. It runs five days at the end of summer at the Armstrong Fairgrounds on Pleasant Valley Road, and more than 10,000 people come each year. The fair opens on a Wednesday and closes on the Sunday before Labour Day. The 2026 fair is the 125th, and it runs September 2 to 6, 2026.
The IPE is a working agricultural fair. Farms bring livestock. Home cooks, gardeners, and crafters enter baking, preserves, garden produce, sewing, and crafts. 4-H members show the animals they raised. Nineteen exhibition divisions hold more than 1,000 classes between them.
The fairgrounds hold more than the barns. Five days of professional rodeo run alongside the exhibits, with the pro bull riding final on Sunday. The West Coast Amusements midway sets up for the week. Two stages carry live music. Barn dances run Friday and Saturday. Food courts and shopping vendors fill the rest.
The IPE Parade starts at 10:00 AM on the Saturday. It is free to watch.
The Armstrong Spallumcheen Agricultural Society runs the fair, not the chamber. The chamber’s work during fair week happens downtown. It runs the Discover Downtown window display challenge, and it publishes a downtown parking guide so fairgoers can park once and walk to the shops. Dates, history, divisions, and IPE contact details sit on the Interior Provincial Exhibition page.
Fair week is the busiest week of the year for local rooms and tables. Book early, and check the directory for accommodation and restaurants and cafes.
See it for yourself
The chamber publishes a guide to the area every year. It covers drive times, attractions, walking trails, farms, and places to eat.
Download the 2026 Experience Guide (PDF)
The Armstrong map and the Spallumcheen map are on the tourism page, along with printed copies at the Visitor Centre.
Something is on most weekends. The events calendar lists what is coming up, the festivals page covers the nine that repeat every year, and chamber news carries the rest.
Who lives here
Many residents commute to Vernon, Kelowna, or Salmon Arm for work. They live in Armstrong Spallumcheen because the small-town vibe is real, the housing is more reasonable than the central Okanagan, and the lakes, mountains, and trails are minutes away. The community runs on volunteers. The chamber, the IPE, the fire halls, the museum, and most local events are powered by people who show up because they love making this place what it is. Dozens of clubs and societies keep the calendar full.
Considering Armstrong Spallumcheen?
If you are thinking about opening a business here, read starting, expanding, or relocating a business, then look at becoming a member of the chamber.
If you are thinking about relocating, the moving page covers utilities, internet, childcare, schools, and permits, and practical services answers the day-to-day questions. Come visit during a festival or stop by the chamber office on Wood Avenue.