Over 100,000 people expected at this year’s Tim Hortons Brier

Within a matter of days, London, Ont. will be hosting the 2023 Tim Hortons Brier at Budweiser Gardens.

The event has been 18 months in the making, with hundreds of hours and volunteers working behind the scenes.

“We’ve got lots of work to do,” said Peter Inch, the vice chair of hosting. “Now we’ve been working since Saturday to prepare the ice surface and then get over to the RBC place and prepare the curling party place.”

On Tuesday, crews were hard at work transforming the rink into a perfect environment for the arrival of 18 teams.

“We have 400 volunteers who will be working everything from installing the ice that the curlers are going to play on to serving you a drink at the patch, drivers picking up people at the airport, you name it they will be doing it,” Inch said.

The ice technician on-site came all the way from Manitoba, Inch said, making him essential to the operations.

“This 300-gallon-per-sheet flood will probably freeze in four hours. What you see now is we’re one flood away from being finished,” said Greg Ewasko, the head ice technician for Curling Canada.

The 10-day event will bring some of the country’s top curlers to the Forest City, along with over 100,000 people, according to organizers.

“I’m looking to see a full house and celebrate that we’re back curling live and really enjoy the great game of curling,” Ewasko said.

Similar to the last time London hosted the brier in 2011, this year could see another sold-out crowd.

“It’s unbelievable how well they’ve been selling. We’re going to have this place full and rocking for every draw,” Inch said.

While there are still some tickets available they are selling fast. Tickets are available on the Curling Canada website. 

The first draw is on March 3, leading up to the final on March 12.