A bonspiel is a curling tournament, consisting of several games, often held on a weekend. Until the 20th century most bonspiels were held outdoors, on a frozen freshwater loch. Today almost all bonspiels are held indoors on specially prepared artificial ice.
Bonspiels in North America
Canada
Bonspiels originated in Scotland, but the most notable competitive curling tournament in the world nowadays is The Brier, the Canadian Men's Curling Championship. For Canadians, this tournament equals or nearly equals the importance of the Olympics and the World Curling Championship. The Canadian Women's Curling Championship tournament is called Scotties Tournament of Hearts. Several Cashspiels are played in Canada every year. The most important cashspiels are part of the World Curling Tour. Many local curling clubs and other organizations in Canada also host casual, social bonspiels.
The United States Curling Association is the national governing body of the sport in the United States. Many bonspiels are listed on . Most bonspiels in the United States are held indoors in dedicated curling facilities, but a few bonspiels are held outdoors if the weather allows it. One example of an outdoor bonspiel is the held each January in the Sawtooth Mountain Range of Idaho. Bonspiels are popular throughout the United States during curling season, typically October through April. Some special bonspiels are held in the summer as well as some that are hosted by clubs that play on arena ice as there are usually fewer scheduling conflicts with other sports at the area such as hockey and figure skating.
Bonspiels in Europe
Scotland
In Scotland, outdoor bonspiels are now very rare; most lochs that formerly hosted bonspiels, such as Loch Earn, rarely freeze over anymore. The Loch of Aboyne was the site of a bonspiel in 1891 and the private railway station, Aboyne Curling Pond was used for the event. The word is sometimes used to refer to an informal curling game, as in parish spiel. The most important Cashspiels in Scotland are part of the Curling Champions Tour The Grand Match was last held outdoors in 1979, although it was revived as an indoor tournament in 2000 and has been held every five years since. Between 1853 and 1935 twenty-five 'Grand Matches' or bonspiels were held at the Royal Caledonian Curling Club's own pond at Carsebreck Loch in Perth and Kinross served by the society's own private Carsbreck railway station.
Other European countries
Dozens of bonspiels are held in European countries every year. Switzerland hosts multiple Curling Champions Tour events.
Bonspiels elsewhere
New Zealand
Curling bonspiels are held when ice conditions permit in the Maniototo, part of Central Otago in the South Island. The region is one of the few in New Zealand to have conditions suitable for outdoor curling, and is also a fitting site for the sport given that Otago's original European settlers were mainly from Scotland. Several artificial and natural lakes around the towns of Oturehua, Naseby and Patearoa provide good conditions, on average every second or third year. The national bonspiel has been held when conditions permit since 1879, with Oturehua's Idaburn Dam the venue since 1932. The most recent national bonspiel, the 66th, was held on 13-14 July 2015. Most New Zealand curling clubs are located in Otago, Canterbury, and Southland, and owing to the difficulty of getting teams to the relatively inaccessible venue, it is rare for teams to travel from outside the southern South Island to the bonspiel. Indoor curling rinks exist in Otago's main centre, Dunedin, and in the towns of Naseby, Otago and Gore, Southland, and also further north in the country's largest city, Auckland. Open air ice rinks exist in Naseby and Alexandra.
The is held in the Sawtooth Mountain Range in Stanley, Idaho.
The largest outdoor bonspiel in the world, the "" held on the Red River in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, has been held at The Forks every February since 2002. In 2015 there were 72 teams competing.
One of the longest-running outdoor bonspiels in the world, the Bonspiel on the Lake in Invermere, British Columbia, Canada, has been held on Lake Windermere every January since 1982. Each year 64 teams compete.
The Bonspiel or the Grand Match, between the north and the south of Scotland, is held on a frozen loch when the winter is cold enough. It was last held outdoors in 1979.
The Crush Bonspiel in Placer Valley, California, is notorious for its unique combination of curling tournament play and wine festival. This tournament originated in Vacaville in 2006 but was moved to Roseville in 2012 because of its rising popularity in surrounding areas.
The Brier is regarded by most curlers as the world's premier curling championship
