Three days of sport, dance and fundraising begin Thursday, April 17th in North America’s longest running LGBT multi-sport event the Apollo Friends in Sports Western Cup.

Each year hundreds of athletes and supporters come out to participate in four different sporting events over the Easter Long Weekend for great community spirit, physical challenge and fantastic prizes. This 32nd annual Cup will feature bowling, curling, dodgeball and volleyball tournaments as well as three social soirees.

"Every year I get so many complements on how much fun the weekend was – from the sports tournaments to the social events, [participants] tell me that they can’t wait until the next year," says TJ Fedyk, Western Cup’s Director of five years. "I have met so many people since being involved in Western Cup, from all over Canada, and this is the one weekend when everyone comes back and visits."

Athletic ability need not be your concern this weekend, as different levels of competition are offered and all are welcome.

Friday tournaments begin with curling taking place at the Calgary Curling Club, bowling at Let’s Bowl, and volleyball at the Volleydome. In the evening Tropicana Las Vegas GLAM presents the Fun Money Casino at Hotel Arts.

"Here guests will have the opportunity to play casino table games to win fun money that they can put towards tickets for prizes," says Fedyk. "One of the prizes this year is a weekend trip to the Tropicana Las Vegas beach party, Xposed!."

Saturday tournaments continue in the above classes, with dodgeball starting up at Western Canada High School. The event closes that night with the Western Cup Dance.

Fedyk started playing volleyball with Apollo 12 years ago, and has been on the Cup’s planning committee virtually ever since. He names the volleyball tournament as his favourite event alongside the Western Cup Dance.

"This year our headline DJ is Scotty Thomson from New York City," he says. "He has played all around the world including Montreal, Brazil, Palm Springs, and Paris, just to name a few."

DJ Dopamine and Rollin Dolan will join him on stage at the Hotel Arts, with entertainment starting at 9pm.  Party Pak tickets are $25 in advance, and will also get you into the kickoff registration party Thursday at Hyde Lounge (followed by the "Back(lot) to BoyzTown" Reunuion Party at Vinyl) and the Friday Fun Money Casino, or you will need to shell $30 at the door.

The Western Cup is not just about having a great time and meeting new people, it is also largely about giving back. Apollo uses much of the proceeds raised from this event to help out numerous gay sports teams and organizations.

"...it is Western Cup that helps us be able to make these donations," Fedyk says. "It gives the community the opportunity to play sports, to cheerlead or to just party."

The event draws teams from all over Canada – coast to coast – gay and straight.

"Western Cup is focused to the Gay Community but we welcome everyone to partake in our events," Fedyk says, adding that he has heard of several couples forming after the events wrap. "We have gay, straight and mixed teams in our tournaments and enjoying our parties."

Registration information, schedules and event descriptions can all be found on their website. Can’t afford the fees? Volunteer! Apollo is still seeking help, specifically for the social events, and volunteers will get to participate in the event they volunteer at for free.

"If you like to meet people and have fun Western Cup is the event for you," Fedyk says.