Kelowna picked to host 2021 Brier

Kelowna, B.C., is set to host the Canadian men’s curling championship for the first time since 1968.

Curling Canada announced Kelowna will host the 2021 Tim Hortons Brier on Thursday.

The event will be held at 6,886-seat Prospera Place, which opened in 1999. It is home to the Western Hockey League’s Kelowna Rockets.

“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 statement. “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 hosted the 1986 world women’s curling championship, the 1989 Canadian women’s championship, the 1999 Canadian juniors, the 2002 world juniors and 2018 world mixed championship.

The 2020 Brier will be held Feb. 29-March 8 in Kingston, Ont.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2019.