Kelowna has one of those big, bougie, Insta-worthy signs

It's 20-feet-long by 4-feet-tall with 100 LED lights in each of its stylish, back-lit white letters.

It's a people-pleasing, photo magnet of an installation that's also a mobile piece of public art.

It's the new, big, bougie and beautiful, oh-so-Instagramable Kelowna sign.

"It's a sense of place, pride of place piece of mobile public art that people naturally want to engage with and have their photo taken with," explained Tourism Kelowna CEO Lisanne Ballantyne.

"And it's also an incredible marketing tool because it's so Instagramable. Everyone wants a picture with it and we're encouraging them to share on social media so Kelowna gets exposure across Canada and around the world."

Tourism Kelowna is urging people to tag them with @tourismkelowna and-or @loveforkelowna and to share on social media with #exploreKelowna.

Tourism Kelowna won't be surprised if Kelowna sign photos get at least 250,000 tags and shares in 2024.

That's why these signs are called 'brand amplifiers.'

To get the best shareable photo, Tourism Kelowna has set out a light-ring tripod at just the right distance and angle in front of the sign that people can use with their smartphones.

The sign currently sits in a prime position, lakeside on the front patio of the Kelowna Visitor Centre at the base of Queensway Avenue.

The sign was first unveiled briefly at the Downtown Kelowna Association's Winter Street Market & Light Up back in December.

But then it was kept under wraps until it appeared last week in front of the Kelowna Visitor Centre.

"It was a hit right away," said Tourism Kelowna director of destination development Chris Lewis.

"We had a line up on the weekend of people waiting to get a photo with the sign and we had several requests for the sign to pop up at upcoming events."

That's right, since the sign is mobile it will go on the road with likely upcoming engagements at Meet Me On Bernard (the summer pedestrianization of Bernard Avenue), Kelowna Beer Festival, Kelowna Pride and anywhere the Kelowna Visitor Centre pop ups crop up.

"Kelowna is not a larger city with a big central square to put a sign like this," explained Ballantyne.

"So, to have a sense of place, it was important to have a sign that can be at the visitor centre, but also be mobile to pop up anywhere in the city there's a special event."

It was Lewis' brainchild for Tourism Kelowna to get the sign, which is also known as a civic marker, eponymous sign, branding photo op and three-dimensional sculputre.

"Those Canada 150 signs (that came out for the country's sesquicentenary in 2017) were the inspiration," he said.

"They are a great way to engage people and create a photo op."

The Canada 150 signs were installed in 15 cities across the country and many since have permanent markers.

Victoria lopped the 150 off its sign so it simply reads Canada to remain a photo magnet on the Inner Harbour.

Tourism Kelowna received a grant from PacifiCan (the renamed Western Economic Diversification) to have the sign built by SignCraft in Kelowna for $35,000.

The sign is a 3-D powder-coated steel base topped with back-lit, white plastic letters that can be illuminated different colours depending on time of day, season or event.

The so called city-identifying sculptures have become a global tourism branding trend capitalizing on the power of selfies and social media.

Iamsterdam is believed to have been the first dating back to 2004 and since there's been an explosion.

The most famous sign in a Canadian city is Toronto, which was installed at Toronto City Hall in 2015 when the city was hosting the Pan Am Games.

Other Canadian cities with such signs include Hamilton, Ottawa, Winnipeg and Scarborough.

Internationally, these selfie-magnets are everywhere from Brisbane, Buenos Aires, Berlin and #ILoveNice to Mazatlan, Budapest, Aberdeen (Scotland) and Dumaguete (Philippines).