The Viterra Provincial Men's Curling Championship started with a banquet at the Canad Inns in Portage la Prairie last night.

Hundreds gathered for the opening celebration, including Portage la Prairie Mayor Irvine Ferris, RM of Portage Reeve Kam Blight, and Portage MLA Ian Wishart. Mayor Ferris says it's a huge event for the city. 

Leyton Bennet leading Portage MLA Ian Wishart, Portage Mayor Irvine Ferris, RM of Portage Reeve Kam Blight, and several others into the banquet Feb. 7, 2016. (Photo by Aaron Wilgosh)

"It's been 14 years since we have hosted this prestigious event that brings a lot of traffic into the community. Portage has a lot of curling fans, the Portage Curling Club goes back to the 1880's, and there's a long history with curling here, and a lot of us enjoy curling and watching it," says Ferris. "The President of Canad Inns was here last night and he certainly understands the impact an event like this has (on a business) and certainly our businesses downtown will see an impact from this too."

Mike McEwen and Brent Budz were tabled together at the banquet Feb. 7, 2017. (Photo by Aaron Wilgosh)

The curling officially starts this morning, with the first draws set for 8:30. Stride Credit Union CEO Brent Budz was also in attendance, and expects a busy week all around the city.

"We saw the conversion of Stride Place from a hockey rink into a curling facility and anyone that's been over there says it's fantastic. It really shows the versatility of the centre. We've seen people come into our community over the last week and today (the competition) starts," says Budz. "They had a fantastic kick off with the banquet evening and I'm looking forward to a great week of people enjoying the Canadian sport of curling, and our beautiful city."

Resby Coutts, Vice-chair of the board of governors for Curling Canada, addressing the crowd at the banquet Feb. 7, 2017.  (Photo by Aaron Wilgosh)

"You've got 32 teams from across the province of Manitoba and they're all excited by the possibility that, as the event starts, every one of them has a chance to go to the Brier," says Resby Coutts, Vice-chair of the board of governors for Curling Canada. "Some of them know it's a long shot, but right now they're all equal. We've got a young curler who's 16 and we've got a gentleman who's playing 50 years after playing in his first provincial championship, and the whole age spectrum in between. The fans should be really excited."

Team Randy Neufeld from the Portage Curling Club is competing in the championship. You can find Portage curlers Dean Moxham and Dale Michie's thoughts on the bonspiel here. Tickets are available at Stride Place.