With the field finally set, the anticipation is building for the 2025 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, which gets underway on Feb. 14 at Fort William Gardens.
“We're just excited as the players,” said Markus McKenzie, who is the coordinator of marketing and ticketing for Curling Canada.
“It’s definitely an event like no other and you can sense it in the atmosphere.”
Eighteen teams from across the country will be competing for the title of Canadian women’s curling champions, which will be officially decided on Feb. 23.
Reigning world champion Rachel Homan is back to defend her title, with Thunder Bay’s own Krista McCarville representing Northern Ontario.
“We have people coming from all over Canada and it’s a place where curling is the common language,” McKenzie said.
“There are people who are long-standing curling fans, people who are new curling fans, people who have never been to an event like this before. It’s a great mingling place of people from across the country.
“Plus, we’ll also have people coming from other countries to attend the Scotties because it’s such an amazing championship event.”
One of the elements that makes the Scotties different from other major sporting competitions is the Original 16 Patch, which is located in the Fort William Curling Club.
“It’s basically curling’s party place,” McKenzie said. “You can have food and drinks, mingle with the players and listen to live music.
“It’s just a fun place to be at before or after the draws.”
Opening weekend ticket packages – which are for the first six draws of the event from Feb. 14-16 – are on sale, along with day packs for Feb. 16-20 games.
Among the notable draws are McCarville’s opener against Saskatchewan’s Nancy Martin at 7 p.m. on Feb. 14, her team’s matchup with Homan at 7 p.m. on Feb. 15 and an all-Manitoba clash between Kerri Einarson and Kaitlyn Lawes on Feb. 20 at 7 p.m.
Full event and weekend packages, along with tickets for the championship contest on Feb. 23, are no longer available.
“We have a lot of cool promotions going on such as student and youth tickets that range from $5 to $10 for all draws,” McKenzie said.
“With the opening draw being on Valentine’s Day, we want to embrace everyone that day. If it’s Galentine’s, Palentine’s or Valentine’s that you celebrate, bring out whoever you want. It’s a celebration for the first day of the Scotties.
“We’re also going to have some promotions going on for Family Day Monday (Feb. 17) as we want to get families involved and make sure that everyone can attend as we ensure that curling is accessible for everyone.”
“We advise everyone to get their tickets as soon as possible to avoid being disappointed.”
Single draw tickets can be purchased on Curling Canada’s website, while ticket packages can be bought at the Fort William Gardens box office.
