Glen Mikkelsen dressed for the occasion in his cardigan sweater, multicolored passport stamp pants and emerald green St. Patrick Day hat.
The CN Centre general manager is preparing for a multicultural world party unlike any the city has ever seen before.
Mikkelsen was on hand at a media event Tuesday to announce the entertainment lineup for The World Famous Patch, which will take over Kin 1 arena to become the social and entertainment hub of the 2020 world women’s curling championship, March 14-22.
The Patch will be the place to go after the games for food/drink and live music, offering patrons a chance to play tabletop curling while the rub shoulders with curling teams from 13 countries that are coming to Prince George.
“Curling is one of the only sports where fans can see a team play and then just a couple hours later, meet and chat with them in The Patch,” said Mikkelsen.
“Whether you’re a curling fan or not, if you just want to have a great time, The Patch will be centre of good times throughout the 2020 world women’s curling championship.”
There is no cover charge to go to The Patch, which will be open from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. each of the nine days of the tournament. Children are welcome until 8 p.m. each day.
The Dungarees, a true-grit country band from Edmonton, will kick off the entertainment at the Patch in Friday, March 13 for the start of a two-day gig. They were nominated for group of the year at the 2016 Alberta Country Music Awards.
On Tuesday, March 17, which also happens to be St. Patrick’s Day, Cod Gone Wild will take centre stage at the Patch. Led by transplanted Newfoundlander Andrew Mercer, the lead singer/multi-instrumentalist, the five-member Okanagan-based band brings a Celtic influence to blend the talents of its musicians and their classical, jazz, folk and rock backgrounds.
The Chris Goodwin Trio is featured on Wednesday March 18. The Prince George artist, who also plays with his band Barefoot Fridays, will bring a mix of folk, rock pop and country. He’s performed locally at Harvest Fest, Relay For Life and Festival of Trees. Goodwin will have his full band with him at the Patch on Thursday, March 19.
The Chevelles, known as The Patch’s house band, will bring their full-throttle muscle-car blend of rock ‘n’ roll dance music guaranteed to make the Kin 1 rafters shake. The four-piece group from Lethbridge, Alta., will be playing at the Patch on Friday, March 20 and Saturday, March 21.
Spirit packages are available for $99, which include four Curling Rocks T-shirts, curling rock toys, posters/window decals, lapel buttons and two tickets to the opening ceremony and opening-draw games. Curling Rocks T-shirts are also on sale through [email protected].
