Regina to host 2018 Brier curling championship

The Canadian men's curling championship is returning to the Queen City.

Curling Canada announced Thursday that Regina will host the 2018 Tim Hortons Brier.

Curlers will compete at the Brandt Centre in Evraz Place. When configured for curling, it seats 6,000.

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Previous Briers have been held in Regina in 2006, 1992, 1976 and 1955.

During the announcement, officials noted that a popular part of the event, a refreshment area known as the Brier Patch, will be set up in a new building at Evraz Place and will set a record in 2018.

We're going to have a great venue and people will not have to go outside to move from place to place.- Mark Allan

"The world's biggest Brier Patch ever," Mark Allan, president of Evraz Place, said Thursday, noting that a new building called the International Trade Centrewill be the site for the patch.

"Legendary," Allan said, recalling the event in Regina 10 years ago.

"The largest Brier Patch ever at that time, that's a 90,000-square-foot building," he said. "The new building that we're building, the International Trade Centre, is 150,000 square feet. So, you know, almost double the size."

Allan said he expects people will appreciate the conveniences.

"When we're done the International Trade Centre, you'll be able to walk or stagger most of the way from the Lewvan [Expressway] all the way to the Brandt Centre," Allan said, noting that curling is a very social sport for fans. "We're able to do it all under one roof here and with the new International Trade Centre, we're going to have a great venue and people will not have to go outside to move from place to place."

He said development at Evraz, including the new building, was done with an eye to hosting major events like the curling championships.

"We have a very big event complex in a smaller community but it's designed to host these national events," he said.

"This is really the premiere sporting event for curling in Canada," Ashley Howard, from CurlSask, said. "It's our Stanley Cup, our World Series, our NBA playoffs or Grey Cup, so to speak. So we're really excited to have this event in Saskatchewan in Regina."

Tickets for the 2018 brier, which will held in the first week of March, are expected to go on sale early next year.

The Regina competition will be the first brier using an expanded 16-team format.

The 2017 Tim Hortons Brier is scheduled for March 4 to 12 in St. John's.