Athletes from the Yukon and Northwest Territories wave flags and signs at the opening ceremonies of the 20th Arctic Winter Games in Yellowknife in March 2008. (Janet Pacey)

Organizers of the 21st Arctic Winter Games in Grande Prairie, Alta., were getting ready Friday to welcome thousands of young athletes from around the circumpolar North.

More than 2,000 athletes, coaches and fans are expected to descend on the northern Alberta city of 47,000 for the week-long games, which kick off Sunday with opening ceremonies.

Contingents are coming from the Nunavut, Northwest Territories, Yukon, northern Alberta, northern Quebec, Alaska, Greenland, Scandinavia and Russia.

Over the next week, athletes will compete in 21 indoor and outdoor sporting events, including cross-country skiing, soccer, gymnastics, hockey as well as traditional indigenous games.

Each contingent will also include cultural performers, who will share music, art and food from their respective regions.

Staff and volunteers were hurriedly working on final preparations Friday, converting school classrooms into living quarters and lining up a week's worth of meals.

Meanwhile, teams across northern Canada were getting ready to depart for Grande Prairie. Team Yukon's 300 athletes, for example, were to be sent off in style Friday night with a pep rally in Whitehorse.

In the Northwest Territories, about 350 athletes, coaches and performers are coming from across the territory, even the most isolated communities.

"We've got probably the strongest representation from the various communities in the Northwest Territories. We've got about 27 communities represented," Doug Rentmeister, Team N.W.T.'s chef de mission, told CBC News on Friday.

"We don't know what we're getting, but we're certainly excited about having all these [N.W.T.] kids come for the first time to the Arctic Winter Games," he added.

Since 1970, the Arctic Winter Games have taken place every two years in a northern city. Yellowknife was host in 2008, and Whitehorse will be host in 2012. Previous games have also been held in Alaska and Greenland.