PENTICTON/KAMLOOPS – The BC Games Society will celebrate 50 years of competition in 2028 by returning to the roots of the Games, as original host communities Kamloops and Penticton have been announced as the hosts of the 2028 BC Winter and BC Summer Games.
The announcement was made at a pair of events in Kamloops and Penticton. The communities were invited to apply to host through a sole bid process in recognition of their pivotal roles in shaping the history of the Games.
The BC Winter and BC Summer Games are British Columbia’s biennial celebration of sport and community, bringing together B.C.’s top emerging high-performance athletes, trained coaches, and certified officials for four days of competition. The inaugural BC Summer Games were held in Penticton in 1978 with the first BC Winter Games taking place the following year in Kamloops.
The BC Winter Games will take place in February 2028 and held primarily on Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc territory, situated within the unceded ancestral lands of the Secwépemc Nation. The Games will be the fourth Games in Kamloops after the community hosted the 1979 BC Winter Games, 2006 BC Summer Games, and 2018 BC Winter Games. The bid for the 2028 Games was supported by the City of Kamloops, Kamloops-Thompson School District No. 73 with Sun Peaks Resort committing as the host venue for snow events. Known internationally as Canada’s Tournament Capital, Kamloops has a strong reputation as a centre for sporting events. The community hosts well over 100 cultural and sporting events each year and offers world-class facilities, a strong athletic culture, expertly trained officials, and an enthusiastic volunteer base.
“We are excited to celebrate a half century of the BC Games in 2028 and there’s no better way to do so than returning to our original hosts in Kamloops and Penticton. The 2028 BC Winter and Summer Games will be an opportunity to recognize the contributions and accomplishments of our volunteers and participants over our first 50 years, and to look ahead to the stories that are still to come beyond 2028,” said Alison Noble, President and CEO of the BC Games Society.
Since hosting the inaugural BC Summer Games in 1978, Penticton has played home to the 1990 BC Winter Games, 1995 BC Summer Games, and 2016 BC Winter Games. Hosted on the traditional and unceded territory of the Syilx People in the Okanagan Nation, the BC Summer Games will be held in July- 2028 and are supported by the City of Penticton and School District No. 67. With a strong and engaged base of over 5,000 active volunteers, Penticton is a destination for year-round events in sport and beyond. The community is home to major annual sporting events and festivals and is recognized as one of Canada’s top wine regions and tourist destinations.
“We are thrilled to welcome the BC Summer Games back to Penticton as the event marks 50 years of celebrating athletics and community. The ethos that was created back in 1978 of providing opportunities for athletes to develop, bringing communities together and sparking a life-long commitment to healthy living is alive and well in Penticton. We’re known as being a community that embraces competition at all levels across a broad spectrum – and for a spirit that infuses all those events with energy and passion. We’re looking forward to welcoming athletes, coaches, trainers and supporters in 2028,” said Julius Bloomfield, Mayor of Penticton.
The BC Games Society is the organization responsible for setting the ongoing policy and direction of the BC Winter and BC Summer Games and supporting Team BC at the Canada Games. Originally established in 1977 by the Provincial Government under the Societies Act, the Society has become a key part of athlete and sport development in the province.
The B.C. government contributes more than $2 million annually to the BC Games Society to support the BC Summer and Winter Games and Team BC. The Province recently provided an additional $2 million in 23/24 to the BC Games Society to support operations and keep the cost of the Games affordable for Host Communities and participants. This is part of $50 million invested annually by the Province into the B.C. sport sector.
To date, more than 40 communities have hosted BC Winter and/or BC Summer Games with an estimated economic benefit for host communities of $2 million for the summer games and $1.6 million for the winter games.
Source – www.bcgames.org