Robert “Rob” Belliveau is a Canadian curling leader committed to growing the sport at both grassroots and national levels. Elected to the Curling Canada Board of Governors in 2025, he serves on its Governance and Human Resources Committees and previously led the Nova Scotia Curling Association as President (2023–2025), advancing participation and strengthening club support across the province. Formerly, Rob was a Halifax Fire Training Officer and is the current President and Founder of NeonTrain, bringing extensive leadership experience in training, governance, and community-building.
Guided by Rob’s efforts, Halifax was able to secure the bid to host the 2025 Montana’s Canadian Curling Trials in the heart of the city, at the Scotiabank Arena, with ancillary programming at the Halifax Convention Centre. Supported by local stakeholders and partners, this event was a huge success. According to the post-event report developed by Curling Canada, the event attracting over 109k spectators over the ten-day event, and millions in economic impact for the province.
Part of the success of winning the bid was the proposal of community engagement through an activation called The Festival of Rings, which Rob helped spearhead. The Festival of Rings was a multi-site, community-centered engagement initiative delivered during the 2025 Canadian Curling Trials. Hosted in public spaces (Rogers Square, the Halifax Convention Centre, the Evergreen Festival on the Halifax Waterfront), the Festival expanded the reach of the Trials beyond traditional audiences and position curling as an accessible, inclusive, and culturally connected Canadian sport.
WHY HE DID IT
Bringing this event was about 2.5 years in the making, where a group of volunteers, including myself, wanted to bring a prestige curling event back to Halifax where it hadn’t been for many years. They homed in on the Olympic trials, where they felt it would bring a flair of Canadiana to the city. Knowing this event would be in November, they knew it would make an impact to the community, businesses, volunteer base, and local economy. We really wanted to bring something that would re-energize the Curling community and bring more people to the sport. This was especially demonstrated through the Festival of Rings, an ancillary legacy event created by the Host Committee. “We really wanted to demonstrate that by doing very good community outreach and community connection, we can bring new people to the sport that have traditionally been overlooked, or haven’t thought of our sport as an opening and welcoming sport to participate in. This really gave them a chance to see the sport, try it, and engage front and center with the games.”
OUTCOMES
According to the post-event report developed by Curling Canada, estimated economic impact for this event was $42.4M, drawing an estimated 19,579 visitors to Halifax. Spectator attendance totaled 109,133 across twenty draws over ten days. The championship featured eight men’s and eight women’s teams competing in a round-robin format followed by playoffs. From a broadcast perspective, the event delivered 20 original broadcasts and 62.7 hours of live national coverage on TSN.
Youth access and education were central to the legacy from the Festival of Rings programming. More than 4,000 students attended through free tickets, while thousands of in-school FloorCurl experiences were delivered. By meeting young people directly in schools, financial and access barriers were removed, introducing curling as an inclusive, welcoming sport. The Festival achieved significant participation, with an estimated 5,481 total community engagements across all locations.
In addition to the main event, “The Patch” drew an estimated 35,000 attendees. Off the ice, the event offered 21 local music performances, curated wine, beer, and spirits tastings, interactive games, and exclusive athlete engagement sessions, ensuring every attendee felt connected and immersed.
“Having our Nova Scotia Team Black make it to the final, I don’t know that you could write a better swan song story.”
