Kelowna will host the Tim Hortons Brier in 2021, Curling Canada announced on Thursday.
The last time Kelowna hosted the annual competition was 1968, with Alberta’s Ron Northcott taking the title at Memorial Arena.
The 2021 tournament will take place at Prospera Place, home of the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets. The rink, which opened in 1999, has seating for around 6,000.
“Kelowna put together a superb bid to host the Tim Hortons Brier in 2021,” John Shea, chair of Curling Canada’s board of governors, said in a press release.
“The Okanagan region has hosted numerous top-calibre curling events in the past, and I know the City of Kelowna is ready to step up and put on an amazing show for the world’s most famous national curling championship.”
“Kelowna is very excited to host the 2021 Tim Hortons Brier and we thank Curling Canada for the opportunity to do so,” said Kelowna mayor Colin Basran.
According to Curling Canada, 2021 will be the eighth time the event has been played in British Columbia. The last time was 2014 in Kamloops, which saw Alberta’s Kevin Koe come out on top.
The winner will represent the nation at the 2021 world championship in Canada (the site has yet to be determined). The team will also qualify for the national curling trials for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
The 2020 Tim Hortons Brier will take place in Kingston, Ont., Feb. 29 to March 8.