LAKE PLACID, NY – The Empire State Winter Games organizing committee is pleased to announce that next year’s event will be held February 2-5.

The 2012 event will be longer than in previous years. The action will be extended from three to four days in order to accommodate an expanded field of sports and to allow time for a new educational component for student athletes, an addition based on the Youth Olympic Winter Games model. The event will include a torch run leading up to the opening ceremonies on Friday and a Festival of the Games celebration on Saturday.

“Last year, we were able to raise enough funds to ensure the Games would go on, and we were fortunate that the State had prepaid for some of the medals and uniforms,” said Craig Randall, Mayor of Lake Placid. “This year we are planning a bigger event for the athletes, and we’re starting from scratch and will incur larger costs, so we are launching a proactive fundraising effort now to secure sponsors.”

For more than 30 years, the Empire State Winter Games have provided athletes of all ages the opportunity to compete in the largest multi-sport amateur athletic winter sporting event in North America.

In 2011, a regional coalition collectively stepped forward to ensure that the event would be held following the announcement that budgetary constraints would force the cancellation of the competitions. An organizing committee representing the coalition includes officials from the Lake Placid Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Olympic Regional Development Authority, Essex County, Villages of Lake Placid and Saranac Lake, and Towns of Harrietstown, North Elba, St. Armand and Wilmington.

For more information about the 32nd Annual Empire State Winter Games, visit empirestatewintergames.com. Those interested in sponsorship for the 2012 event should contact Kathy Pfohl at 518.523.2445 x110 or kathy@lakeplacid.com.