Huntsman World Senior Games

A Local Institution Since 1987

Each October, thousands of athletes age 50 and older come to St. George for the Huntsman World Senior Games, a two-week international multi-sport competition that has run nearly every year since its founding in 1987. The one break in that record came in 2020, when the competition was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic - the only year the Games have not been held since they began.

Open to Any 50-Year-Old, No Qualifying Required

Unlike the qualifying structure that governs many national and international senior competitions, the Huntsman Games require no prior ranking or qualifying result to enter. Anyone age 50 or older, at any skill level, can register directly for the sports on the program, which spans track and field, road racing, cycling, golf, pickleball, softball, basketball, and swimming, among dozens of others. That open-entry model is part of what sets it apart from the National Senior Games, which does require athletes to post qualifying results at state-level competitions first.

A Field That Keeps Growing

Participation set a record in 2018, when 11,033 athletes competed over the two weeks, a scale the organizers describe as making it the largest annual multi-sport competition for older athletes held anywhere in the world. Competitors travel in from well beyond Utah, and the entry list in a typical year runs well past US state lines, which is why the event carries "World" in its name rather than "National" or "Regional."

Two Weeks, Venues Across the County

No single stadium could hold a program this size. Events run across St. George and Washington County for the full two weeks, from courts and pools inside the city to trails and courses on its outskirts. The Games open with a ceremony at Greater Zion Stadium on the Utah Tech University campus, featuring a parade of athletes by country and division and a fireworks display. The same October calendar that carries the Games also carries George Streetfest, the monthly downtown block party, and spectators with a gap between events often walk down to Town Square Park to wait out the afternoon.

Watching, Volunteering, and Staying for the Two Weeks

Brigham Young University exercise science students staff free health screenings at the Games each October and are a major source of the event's volunteer labor. That pipeline, plus the host city's own crowd, is what lets an event of this size run without a large paid staff. Visitors coming just to watch rather than compete need the same October lodging as anyone else in town that week; see our guide to where to stay for a golf trip for the hotel corridor along the city's golf side, and fill the gaps between sessions with free things to do in St. George rather than adding to the cost of the trip. The active-50-plus culture the Games celebrate also shows up in the local real estate market - golf-adjacent neighborhoods like Bloomington draw much of the same retiree demographic that fills the Games' entry lists every fall.