Arctic Winter Games as Festive Event

This article focuses on the sporting event known as the Arctic Winter Games, which features young people (aged ten to twenty) from the Arctic regions, provinces, and nations. It demonstrates that young participants primarily experience this event as festive, thus fulfilling the Games’ stated promise of combining sports with the promotion of Arctic culture. Drawing on data collected during the 2023 edition, the article investigates the expectations of both the young athletes and the organizers and then compares them with how participants experience the event. The behaviors, interactions, and relationships that develop during flagship Games events, such as Arctic sports and Dene games, during which festive practices take center stage, are also part of this study. The article thus illustrates that the Arctic Winter Games place festivity, primarily as a means for participants to socialize and foster a symbolic unity among young people of the North, at the heart of the event. The festive and partying moments, which are integral to this youth-focused event, make the Arctic Winter Games an unique platform to observe how international sports events are striving today to renew their model by constructing a strong social and cultural sense of belonging.