Curling Day in Canada Date in the current year: February 24, 2024

Curling is a winter sport in which players slide heavy, polished granite stones across the ice toward a target area consisting of four concentric circles. The purpose is to score points by getting stones closer to the center of the target area than the other team’s stones. The stones are also known as rocks, the ice is called the curling sheet, the target area is the house, and its center is the button.

Curling originated in Scotland around the 16th century; the world’s oldest curling stone is inscribed with the date 1511. The first printed mention of the word curling is found in a 1620 poem written by Scottish poet and historian Henry Adamson. The world’s oldest curling club, the Kilsyth Curling Club, was established in 1716 and exists to this day. According to the International Olympic Committee, the first official rules for the sport were developed by the Royal Caledonian Curling Club in Edinburgh.

Scottish immigrants brought curling to Canada in the early 19th century. The first curling club in Canada and all of North America, the Royal Montreal Curling Club (Club de Curling Royal Montréal), was founded in 1807. Since then, curling has spread to all continents, but it is particularly popular in Canada. It was a demonstration sport at several Winter Olympics before becoming a full-fledged Olympic sport at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

The world governing body for the sport of curling is World Curling (formerly the World Curling Federation). It was founded in 1966 as a committee of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club in Perth, Scotland, and is still based there. World Curling has 73 member associations (as of 2023) and sanctions 15 international curling events.

Curling Day in Canada was launched in 2019 by Curling Canada, the country’s sanctioning body for the sport of curling. Its main goals are to find innovative and creative ways to popularize curling throughout the country, and to bring together the curling community that includes athletes, coaches, volunteers, and devoted fans of the sport.

To mark Curling Day in Canada, Curling Canada, curling clubs and other stakeholders organize events such as curling sessions for beginners, meet and greets with athletes, tournaments, festivals, fundraisers, contests, and other fun activities. The official website of Curling Day in Canada has a list and a map with all curling facilities that host events.

There are many ways to get involved with Curling Day in Canada. You can attend an event near you or organize a Curling Day event in your community, participate in the Curling Story Contest by submitting a curling-related story, support your local curling club, buy official Curling Day in Canada merchandise (your purchase will help support youth curling programs across Canada), and post about the holiday on social media with the hashtags #CurlingDayInCanada and #CurlingDay.