By Duncan Cairns-Brenner

Unseasonably warm winter deters festival-goers

Feb 27, 2016 | 1:01 PM

Organizers at the Provincial Snowmobile Festival, being held this weekend in North Battleford, cite an unseasonably warm winter as the cause for lower than expected registration. 

Despite the low participation, North Battleford Trailbreakers Snowmobile Club President Dale Woytiuk is not concerned about attendance.

“We were hopefully budgeting in the 300 to 350 range. Since then we’ve kind of downgraded our expectations. We’re still hoping to be within that 100 to 150,” Woytiuk said. “We know we’ll end up in the black.”

The festival alternates between the 48 Saskatchewan Snowmobile Association (SSA) members’ communities in the province.

“It’s a big privilege. It’s a big honour to host it, you have to bid two years in advance,” Woytiuk said.

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North Battleford bid to hold the SSA event in 2014, having not hosted it since 2000.

“2000 was a challenging year as far as snow conditions, very similar to this year,” Woytiuk said. “We had very good snow and the rest of the province did not have.”

Attendance was, however, poor for the festival that year.

“Up until about two weeks ago our snow conditions were quite poor, but we’ve really picked up; the snow has come,” Woytiuk said. “We probably have some of the best conditions in the last three or four years.”

The festival kicks off Friday, Feb. 26, with a mixer and vintage sled display, and ends Saturday, Feb. 27, with awards and a banquet.

dcairnsbrenner@jpbg.ca