The inaugural event was held
the Forks Historic Port where the Red River meats the
Assiniboine River on February 15-16, 2002. Founders Eric Dawson and Kevin Wiebe attracted 14 curling teams and hosted the events on 2 official size sheets of ice with full size curling rocks. The founding principal for this annual event was that the bonspiel should always be available to everyone of all skill levels, and that funds raised from the bonspiel should go to charity. As the event grew in popularity, the hosting foundation required more space and moved the location south along the Red River to the
Winnipeg Rowing Club, then even further south to the Redboine Boat Club. The event now involves eight sheets of curling ice and teams are guaranteed to play three games round robin style games throughout the bonspiel. Games are 6 ends or 70 minutes, and tie games go to skip stones. The Ironman Outdoor Curling Bonspiel has grown beyond its basic weekend event to include a new high school tournament that launched in 2025. This high school tournament takes place on the Friday of the Bonspiel, during the day before the opening matches of the main tournament that evening. The
Heart and Stroke Foundation was selected as the main charity, given that the event takes place in February, which is Heart and Stroke Awareness Month. Since 2002, more than $212,320 has been raised for local charities in Winnipeg, and in 2023, the event set a new record with $26,395.69 raised. This is the longest-running fundraiser for the Heart & Stroke Foundation. While the event is set for the first full weekend in February every year, warm weather can cause issues. Tournament organizers have implied cold temperatures, and snow cannot stop the event, but sunshine and heat can make for unsafe or unplayable ice conditions. Warm weather has caused delays to the event, but only the
COVID-19 pandemic has been responsible for its cancellation since its inception. In 2026, the event was renamed The Rock the River Winter Festival and partnered with
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to live stream the finals on Sunday. == Gallery ==