Penticton is now Picnic-ton

This is definitely an example of making the best of a bad situation.

Restaurants are suffering as the COVID ban on indoor dining drags on and people are missing resto meals and socializing.

So, the City of Penticton's economic development department has come up with one solution -- Picnic-ton, a riff off the city's name.

Picnic-ton officially launches Monday and runs all summer encouraging people to order takeout from local restaurants, cafes, concessions, breweries and wineries and enjoy a picnic in a park or on the beach.

For a second summer, Penticton is allowing wine and beer in designated zones along Okanagan Beach and in Okanagan Lake Park and Skaha Lake Park as part of its responsible outdoor public consumption of alcohol program.

The city has set up 36 more picnic tables, in addition to the ones already at parks and beaches, to accommodate the extra picnicking.

Of course, you don't need to sit at a city table if you want to bring your own, spread a blanket or simply plonk down on the grass or sand.

"We're really happy with the uptake of the program," says economic development manager Carly Lewis.

"We've had 42 restaurants, cafes, breweries and wineries register. We'll post all the participants at Penticton.ca/Picnic this weekend and we'll be delivering Picnic-ton packages to all restaurants to they can include goodies like placemats and beverage cozies with take-out orders."

Earlier in the pandemic, the city also launched a Love Local initiative to urge people to shop local and support small business in these tough times.

The city is also speeding up patio permits and allowing bigger patio spaces for restaurants to help eateries to get through the current COVID-related ban on indoor dining at restaurants.