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Coming to a community near you: Canada Winter Games Torch Relay!

Pre-Games festivities build excitement for national sport celebration in Red Deer
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The MNP Canada Games Torch Relay has been making its way across the country and arrives in Alberta in January. It’ll arrive in Red Deer for the opening ceremonies of the Canada Winter Games on Feb. 15.

Can you feel the excitement?

As the Canada Games Torch Relay winds its way through communities from Halifax to Victoria, it brings the Games closer and closer to Central Alberta.

“In many ways it’s no different than the Olympics, as it gets closer to the event,” says Scott Robinson, CEO of the host society organizing the event. “When we kick off the Alberta portion of the Torch Relay in Grande Prairie on Jan. 5, it’s really going to create some excitement and visibility for the public.”

The 2019 Canada Winter Games come to Central Alberta Feb. 15 to March 3, with events hosted in Red Deer, Kananaskis and Calgary. Up to 3,600 participants are competing for gold in 19 sports, with a major art and cultural festival hosted at the Gary W. Harris Celebration Plaza over 10 nights.

Getting you ready for 18 amazing days of sport and community

The Games – and before them, the Torch Relay – are great examples of how you can show support for up-and-coming athletes and help out your community.

While the Torch Relay, made possible through the sponsorship of national accounting firm MNP, soon winds up its relay runs and Celebration Stops in non-Alberta locations, the new year will bring the excitement home, Robinson says.

Catch the Torch Relay live!

  1. Touring the province After moving through Grande Prairie, the Relay will visit 23 Alberta communities, from Lloydminster and Ponoka to Drumheller and Innisfail, before arriving in Red Deer on Feb. 15 for the Opening Ceremony of the Games.
  2. Familiar faces are involved People you’ll know, selected from about 900 runners nominated for their connection to community and sport, are taking part in either the relay or the Celebration Stop events.
  3. Celebrate historic volunteers Many people who were a part of Red Deer’s last hosting of this event in 1995 are playing a role this time around, Robinson says. Even some members of the Lethbridge 1975 Games crew are running in the Torch Relay in that community.

One of the mottos of the Canada Winter Games is “Unity Through Sport.” Whether that means athletes from your community reaching for the next rung in competition, or you joining together with others from Red Deer and across the country to support all the athletes’ efforts, the Games definitely bring people together.

“From that perspective it really is a mini-Olympics,” Robinson says. “For a city our size, it’ll be like hosting the Olympics like Vancouver did in 2010.”

Be a part of our moment and celebrate at a MNP Canada Games Torch Relay stop near you in 2019! The full list of stops is available at canadagames.ca/2019/mnptorchrelay.

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The 2019 Red Deer Canada Winter Games mascot Waskasoo has been popular with visitors at MNP Canada Games Torch Relay stops around the country.
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Canadian Olympian and Canada Games alumni, swimmer Ryan Cochrane, leads an MNP Canada Games Torch Relay group.