The torch bearers walk across the ice during the Empire State Winter Games opening ceremony in 2025. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

LAKE PLACID — The 46th Empire State Winter Games was slated to kick off on Thursday, Feb. 5, with the arrival of the torch and an opening ceremony at Olympic Center 1980 Herb Brooks Arena.

The games will include more than 2,300 athletes from around the state, as well as the Northeastern United States and Canada. They will compete in 24 winter sports, including a number of adaptive sports. The games continue through Sunday.

The opening ceremony will be at 7 p.m. tonight at the 1980 rink, and is free and open to the public. This year’s theme is “Where Chill Meets Will.”

The event will be hosted by former NBC5 meteorologist Tom Messner, with a performance from Montreal’s Turbo Twins, bold cinematic storytelling and the Parade of Athletes, igniting the weekend, Feb. 5-8, of competition in the Adirondacks.

“This year’s Opening Ceremony is shaping up to be one of the most exciting, action-packed moments in the history of the Games,” ADKSC executive director Karlan Jessen said in a statement. “From world-class performances to time-honored traditions, there’s something for everyone — and we can’t wait to share that energy with all of the athletes, volunteers and fans.”

The annual 700-mile journey of the torch relay began Jan. 27 in Saugerties and has gone on for nine days. The torch traveled to Poughkeepsie, Syracuse, Buffalo, Gowanda, Lockport, Pittsford, Utica, Schenectady and Amsterdam. It will make its return home to Lake Placid in time for the Games’ opening ceremony.

At each stop on the torch tour, the Games’ LED flame and Adirondack Mac were joined by past and current Empire State Winter Games athletes, local dignitaries, representatives from sponsoring organizations and athletes and mascots from area teams and clubs.

Venues included in the weekend’s events are: Mount Van Hoevenberg Sliding Center and Olympic Center in Lake Placid, Whiteface Mountain in Wilmington, Mount Pisgah in Saranac Lake, the Tupper Lake Civic Center, and the James C. Frenette Sr. Recreation trails in Tupper Lake. Bowling, a new event this year, will take place at the Lucky Strikes Lanes in Malone.

The annual ESWG is the largest and longest-running amateur winter multi-sport festival in the United States. For more information about the Empire State Winter Games, visit empirestatewintergames.com.