Penticton has officially put a bid in to host the 2016 and 2018 BC Winter Games.

The City faces competition from Abbotsford and Kamloops to be the host city, both of which have held games before.

President and CEO of the BC Games Society, Kelly Mann, say it will take sometime before a decision is made.

"The review committee will be looking at all the bids over the next several weeks. Then a recommendation will go to our board at the end of October, with further recommendation to our Minister responsible for sport. Then subsequent announcements to be made, we hope, before Christmas time this year"

Mann also adds that Penticton is an attractive choice.

"You guys have a great history of hosting events there. Whether it's the games or your Ironman triathlon, those things contribute to the community knowledge base and confidence so that events like a Winter Games can be hosted with greater ease"

Penticton has hosted three previous games including the very first BC Summer Games back in 1978.

A total of seven communities including Abbotsford, Coquitlam, Cowichan Valley, Kamloops, Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows, North Vancouver and Penticton have bid on either the Summer or Winter Games.

Only one of the four BC Games will be awarded to a particular community for this bid process.

Each of the communities have previously hosted a BC Games.

Anita Sthankiya -Penticton