Facilities across the City of Kamloops will be buzzing as the Canada 55 Plus Games get underway today.

With events to take place at 28 different venues in the Kamloops-area, Sean Smith, the Events Coordinator with the City, says staff were putting the finishing touches at places like McArthur Island, Kenna Cartwright Park, the Tournament Capital Centre, and the Tournament Capital Ranch.

“All the parks workers are bustling around out in the fields making sure that the fields are in the best shape they can be in, and the arenas are doing the same for their facilities, making sure they are spotless and clean and the ice is in great shape,” Smith said Monday.

Kamloops beat out Whitehorse, Calgary, and Fort McMurray to win the bid for the games in 2018, making this the first time that these games are being held in British Columbia.

“As you know, the event was supposed to take place two years ago but has been put off until this year,” Smith added.

“This year has been a challenging year just with people who are interested in volunteering and I think we lost some volunteers but you know, they have come though in the end and they are starting to come out of the woodwork in the last couple of weeks. So, I think we’re in pretty good shape. I think we’re going to pull it off.”

About 5,000 people are expected to come to Kamloops for these games – including around 3,000 athletes and coaches in 26 sports – leading to about $3.5 million in economic activity. Over 600 volunteers have also stepped up, according to the Kamloops Sports Council.

“Ice hockey is the biggest sport going. We’ve got nearly 1,000 participants, so we’ve got four ice sheets going include Sandman Centre, the two at McArthur Island, and Brock,” Smith said.

Added Games President and Co-Chair, Henry Pejril, “virtually every sporting facility we have in town has got something going on for the next three days. We couldn’t be happier that this is finally getting off the ground.”

Opening ceremonies are set to take place this evening at the Tournament Capital Centre with the closing ceremonies scheduled to take place at 5 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 26.

“We are expecting 2,500 people to come through our doors for the opening ceremonies to kick off a great week,” Smith added. “We’re just waiting for the games to begin.”

– With files from Brett Mineer and Jeff Andreas