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Spectacle set to kick-off Alberta's 'mini-Olympics'

A colourful opening ceremonies at Okotoks' Seaman Stadium next month will get things going in style for the 2023 Alberta Summer Games.
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Robin Szuch, director of ceremonies for the Alberta Summer Games, stands for a photo at Seaman Stadium in Okotoks on June 5, 2023.

Tickets are now on sale for the opening ceremonies for next month’s Alberta Summer Games. 

A spectacle that’s set for Seaman Stadium on the evening of Thursday, July 20, the event will not only welcome 3,000 athletes and coaches from around the province, but will set the tone for the ensuing three days of athletic competition. 

From July 20 to 23, Okotoks and Diamond Valley are hosting the Summer Games, a ‘mini-Olympics’ that will see individuals and teams from eight zones throughout Alberta compete in 14 sports. 

Robin Szuch, director of ceremonies for the Summer Games, said the opening ceremonies will feature a variety of performances as well as the lighting of the cauldron, the culmination of the Torch Celebration. 

The athletes will arrive first and will be positioned in the outfield where they’ll enjoy some pre-show entertainment. When the festivities start at 7 p.m., they will include welcoming remarks from dignitaries and a procession of athletes representing each of the zones before the evening gives way to performances. 

Entertainment will include indigenous dancers, drummers and singers putting on an interactive show as well as an acrobatic performance that will represent all the sports being contested in the Summer Games. 

“What I love about the opening ceremonies is we get the athletes’ world, the sport world and the artistic performer world and we kind of crash them into one another and put together this great big spectacle,” said Szuch. 

“So I think it's great whether you're a supporter of the arts or whether you're a supporter of sports or a supporter of both. I think it's going to be really fantastic event, so I encourage everybody to come out.” 

Szuch said the Summer Games, a multi-day, multi-sport competition complete with athletes’ villages and a Torch Celebration, are a scaled down version of the Olympics and the opening ceremonies is one more component of that experience. 

“For a lot of these athletes, it’s the biggest competition they've ever taken part in, so to have something like an opening ceremonies with all the spectacle and all that's going on, you want to really leave a lasting memory for them,” she said. 

For tickets to the opening ceremonies, visit 2023asg.com. 


Ted Murphy

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