Enjoy a fun-filled week at Naramata

Summers are our favourite time at Naramata Centre. With a variety of summer programs for any interest, Child & Youth Programs, activities and gatherings, this will be a summer your family will talk about all year long.

Updated: August 10, 2024

Program registrations are now open!

Community Life and Child & Youth programs run during weeks 3 - 8 (July 15 - August 23)

Week 1: July 1 - 5
Watermelon Sessions I: Neurodiverse Camp for Kids

  • Are you looking for a summer day camp that welcomes neurodivergent families? Do you want to enjoy a relaxing vacation in a beautiful and safe environment? If so, you might be interested in Naramata Camp by Watermelon Sessions!

    Book your stay with Naramata Centre either in the Accommodation or Campground and register your child in camp with Watermelon sessions.

    To see the full program and to register, please visit watermelonsessions.ca

    Please note, there is no Community Life or additional child & youth programming this week.

  • Watermelon Session camp is $575 per week

  • Please book your accommodation through Naramata Centre. Stays at both the Naramata Courts and Campground can have flexible arrival and departure dates.
    Registration for Watermelon sessions summer camp must be completed with them directly.

Week 2: July 8 - 12
Watermelon Sessions II
Sacred Earth, Holy Connection: Wild Church

  • Wild Church is a movement of people across the world who are deepening their relationship with the Holy by connecting more deeply with the natural world. In this new expression of church, Mystery is experienced, not explained. Creation holds the wisdom of Creator, and Wild Church invites us to pause and pay attention with all our senses, while encouraging us to begin to see the land and her more than human occupants as neighbours, and to help change the perspective from “this land belongs to us” to “we belong with this land.”

    Come, dance in the forest and play in the field with Wild Church this summer!

    Please note, there is no Community Life or additional child & youth programming this week.

  • Choose from two programs:

    Wild Church Program fee is $200 per peron.

    Watermelon Sessions are $575 per week.

  • Please book your accommodation through Naramata Centre. Stays at both the Naramata Courts and Campground can have flexible arrival and departure dates.
    Registration for Watermelon sessions summer camp must be completed with them directly.

Week 3: July 15 - 19
Epicurean Week: Understanding Your Unique Palate

  • Each day of this program will be a module dedicated to understanding your palate, then applying your new-found knowledge!

    Introduction to How Your Senses Work: Better understand how your smell and taste interact with your brain. Answer questions such as why your senses are unique, why you love wine at the winery and then no longer get the same level of enjoyment at home. Go through a series of smelling and tasting exercises to better understand what impacts your sensory experience. The goal is to start focusing on your senses so you can get more out of your week of culinary experiences.

    Sparkling Wine: Discover the four major production methods for sparkling wines, where they are made, key information that can be found on the label, and touch on pairing sparkling wine with food. Practicing techniques presented in the Introduction course, taste local examples of these styles and compare the differences. The goal is to understand what to expect from the different styles.

    Wine & Cheese: Discover the major concepts of wine and food pairing. Taste through a series of wines, identifying key characteristics. Then, after a discussion of different types of cheese styles, explore which pairings work better and others and discuss the reasons. The goal of this course is to apply the basic concepts of wine and food pairing so that they can easily be remembered for more complicated pairings.

    Sensory Seminar with the Naramata Inn (details forthcoming!)

    Farm Tour & Tasting at Elephant Island Orchard Wines

  • Choose your accommodation or camping option.

    Program Costs are $175 plus $50 for materials.
    Community Life is $175 per person per week. Children under 5 are free. Advance registration is required for some Community Life programming.

  • Book your accommodation, session program and Community Life. Arrivals can happen on Saturdays or Sundays for seven nights.


    This week marks the start of Community Life and Child & Youth Programming at Naramata Centre.

Week 4: July 22 - 26
Let It Flow Watercolours with Karin Richter

  • Watercolour is a wonderful medium as it allows you to use it for quick sketches, vignettes or serious studio paintings.

    Led by Karin Richter, this course will cover all the aspects of painting in this medium, from reference photography to different painting techniques, composition & design to colour choices and theory. Karin welcomes all levels of painters eager to explore, improve and perfect their craft. Through demonstrations, talks and constructive critiques, Karin will help participants to realize their own vision.

  • Choose your accommodation or camping option.

    Program Costs are $175
    Materials fee: $30 per person

    Community Life is $175 per person per week. Children under 5 are free. Advance registration is required for some Community Life programming.

  • Book your accommodation, session program and Community Life. Arrivals can happen on Saturdays or Sundays for seven nights.

Week 5: July 29 - Aug 2
Words Have It: Seeing Life Through Poetry with Tim Scorer

  • Poetry is no short form for sending messages; it’s a language ‘entire unto itself’. We might say that it’s the language of mystery, the language for expressing the inexpressible. It seems as though there is a moment in life when a person is ready to immerse in such a language. That might come in childhood, but frequently it’s later in life when there is a readiness for this other way of speaking and seeing how things are.

    Join Tim Scorer and for these five mornings (it takes that kind of time) and be part of a five-morning community of poetry explorers. In the safety of such a group, we will read poetry, feel its effect, and speak together about all that it evokes in us and, perhaps, even write some. Are you ready?

    Tim Scorer is a spiritual director, facilitator, retreat leader, and educator who has been shaping small group learning experiences for the past 40 years at Naramata Centre and in other settings of spiritual deepening.

  • Choose your accommodation or camping option.

    Program Costs are $175
    Materials fee is $10 per person.
    Community Life is $175 per person per week. Children under 5 are free. Advance registration is required for some Community Life programming.

  • Arrivals can happen on Saturdays or Sundays for seven nights.

Week 6: August 5 - 9
SoulCollage®: Introduction and Deepening with Allison Rennie and Nan Maxson

  • Pictures and images can communicate profound truths about our lives. SoulCollage® is an intuitive collage process for individuals and groups. If you can cut and you can paste, you can do SoulCollage®.

    Join with others in this engaging, hands-on workshop to create your own SoulCollage® cards. Then use your cards to access your own inner wisdom by reading your cards individually or in groups. Sharing SoulCollage® cards is an enjoyable, enriching way to learn about yourself, deepen intimacy and strengthen community.

    Natalie (Nan) Maxon and Allison Rennie are planning on offering two options each day of the course – one option focused on introducing the process and practice, and a second option for people who are already experienced to deepen SoulCollage® practice. Join us if you are curious, just beginning, or are craving more!

  • Choose your accommodation or camping option.

    Program Costs are $175
    Materials fee: $50 per person
    Community Life is $175 per person per week. Children under 5 are free. Advance registration is required for some Community Life programming.

  • Book your accommodation, session program and Community Life. Arrivals can happen on Saturdays or Sundays for seven nights.

Week 7: August 12 - 16
Gospel 101 with Lonnie Delisle

  • Lonnie Delisle is the artistic director of Universal Gospel Choir (UGC), Vancouver’s longest running community gospel choir. UGC pairs beautiful music with powerful messages of justice and inclusion, and represents a broad spectrum of cultural and faith journeys.

    Join Lonnie for a week of singing that weaves together reflective dialogue on current events, powerful messages of justice and inclusion, meaningful lyrics, and beautiful music, leaving you feeling hopeful and inspired. Celebrate our diversity and be part of a community and musical experience that is accessible to all people from all walks of life.

  • Choose your accommodation or camping option.

    Program Costs are $175
    Materials fee: $20 per person
    Community Life is $175 per person per week. Children under 5 are free. Advance registration is required for some Community Life programming.

  • Book your accommodation, session program and Community Life. Arrivals can happen on Saturdays or Sundays for seven nights.

Week 8: August 19 - 23
Music Week: Lift Every Voice with Dr. Marc Hafso and Liz Paynter

  • Join Liz Paynter and Marc Hafso for a week of music. Sing, dance, move and play! Come to enjoy age and stage-appropriate choral music, and all kinds of other activities, that focus on building our community, sharing our gifts, and strengthening our faith. Friday evening’s concert celebration is always a highlight of the week, when we share our week’s learnings.

    Judy Hafso will be our Children’s Choir director this summer.

    Kim Denis will lead our Youth Choir.

    It’s time to lift every voice!

  • Choose your accommodation or camping option.

    Program Costs are $175
    Materials fee is $40 per person.
    Community Life is $175 per person per week. Children under 5 are free. Advance registration is required for some Community Life programming.

  • Arrivals can happen on Saturdays or Sundays for seven nights.

Week 9: August 26 - 30
Queer Family Retreat
Watermelon Sessions III

  • Welcome to a fun-filled week of joy in the glorious Okanagan Valley, celebrating queer Christian community with friends and family of all ages and life stages! We will gather at Naramata Centre to connect with one another, Creator, the Land and with ourselves, living into our values of belonging, justice and love. We'll find time to rest, sing, run wild, play, and create!

    Anyone you consider family is invited to join us - birth, chosen, found, immediate, extended, church, or otherwise. All expressions of faith are welcome, even as we draw on the Christian practices of prayer, story, and times of worship. From birth to elder years, this retreat is for all ages and stages and is led by experienced facilitators from the queer and ally community.

    Please note, there is no Community Life or additional child & youth programming this week.

  • Program costs are $100 for people 18+ - kids and youth are FREE!

  • Book your accommodation and program fees. Arrivals are set for Monday, August 26, but you can add one night to your stay and arrive on Sunday, August 25.