The Wood Buffalo region hosted the 2023 Arctic Winter Games (AWG) last week after the pandemic postponed the 2022 event.

The AWG committee and the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo invited competing teams from Northern Alberta, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Nunavik (Quebec), Alaska, Greenland, and Sápmi (native to Norway, Sweden, and Finland). Over 1,700 athletes attended the games from Jan. 30 to Feb. 4.

The AWG includes a variety of events, including typical winter sports like hockey, curling, skiing and biathlon. There are also indoor games like basketball, volleyball, wrestling, and table tennis featured. Even Dene Games were featured that has games like snow snake, stick pull, and more.

It was a long journey to host this year's games, with challenges along the way, but Melissa Blake,  AWG chair, says the outcome of all the hard work by her and the AWG committee was all worth it in the end.

The next Arctic Winter Games will be hosted in Mat-Su Borough, Alaska on March 10-16, 2024.

All further information about the 2023 Arctic Winter Games can be found at the official website.

​​​Listen to the full CFWE Interview below with Melissa Blake: