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The quick read: Two hundred and twenty-seven white crosses now stand in Kelowna's City Park, one for each local man and woman who gave their life in service to Canada. The Field of Crosses opened Sunday with a ceremony at the cenotaph and stays open daily until November 12. A sunset candlelight ceremony follows on Sunday, November 8 at 4:45 p.m. It is a quiet place to remember, and to say thank you.

Behind the cenotaph in Kelowna's City Park, 227 white crosses stand in neat rows.

Each one bears the name, rank, unit and date of death of a Kelowna man or woman who lost their life serving Canada in the First World War, the Second World War or the Korean War. Together they form the Field of Crosses, a visual memorial that turns a list of names on a monument into something you can walk among.

Now open until November 12

The field opened Sunday, November 1, with a ceremony at the Kelowna cenotaph, where Mayor Tom Dyas paid respects to Canada's fallen soldiers. It is open to the public daily during regular City Park hours until November 12.

A special Sunset Candlelight Ceremony will be held on Sunday, November 8 at 4:45 p.m., and the public is invited to attend alongside families representing descendants of the fallen named on the crosses.

The display is presented by the Okanagan Military Museum Society, the Kelowna Museums Society, the Rotary Club of Kelowna, Royal Canadian Legion Branch 26, and community volunteers, to complement Kelowna's annual Remembrance traditions in November.

Why it matters

Remembrance Day ceremonies are important, but they pass in an hour. The Field of Crosses stays.

For twelve days, anyone walking through City Park can stop, read a name, and remember that freedom was not free. It was paid for by young people from this very city, people with families, jobs and futures, who never came home.

In a time when so much of our history is debated, argued over, or simply forgotten, a field of white crosses says the simple truth out loud: these people mattered, and we still remember them.

If you have not visited, go. Bring your kids. Read a few names aloud. That is how remembrance survives.

Sources: Field of Crosses Kelowna (CanadaHelps); news reports, November 2, 2026.