Let the competition begin!

Prince Rupert, your games are on!

Friday night featured the opening ceremonies of the Northern BC Winter Games as Prince Rupert welcomed participating athletes, officials and family members from across the region. The celebration of sport and friendship was underway shortly after 7 pm with a march in of participants, followed by some entertainment and speeches from a number of officials who offered their thanks for the competitors arrival and best wishes for a successful games.

24 hours earlier on Thursday night provided quite the scene for Rupert with the kind of traffic jams that make Vancouver famous, while buses arrived at staggered times through the evening, the congestion still managed to create a bit of grid lock in the parking lot of the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre, however once things got flowing, events proceeded rather smoothly through the arrival evening, with most of the accreditation and reception duties taken care of by 10 pm.

Friday featured the first full day of competition at a variety of venues around the city, providing a jam packed schedule of events open to the public from pee wee hockey and high calibre basketball, to archery, karate, curling and a wide cross section of sports available for your enjoyment.

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The competition and events continue on Saturday and Sunday, with the closing ceremonies anticipated for 11:30 on Sunday morning, with the buses rolling out of town shortly after the noon hour.

The beehive of activity found on Friday must have been a rewarding sight for the organizing committee and its battalion of volunteers who have pulled together an event that seems to be fulfilling it's motto of "Where Fun Reigns".

You can check out the Games website for details on what events are on the schedule for Saturday and Sunday, as well there is a facebook page dedicated to the games providing information on the events and the opportunity to provide some feedback on the event.

Congratulations to all involved in bringing the event to its successful launch on Friday night, a frantic 36 hours is ahead, but judging by the high quality of some of the events it's surely going to be an enjoyable 36 hours.