Trail festival in Star City a big hit for attendees
PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The first weekend of August played host to brilliant sunshine, blue skies and record crowds at this year’s Nordic Trail Festival. Held annually at the Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle, the event is a celebration for anyone that enjoys the trails at the facility, as well as members of the community surrounding those trails. The weekend plays host to races, games, live music, food and much more.
This year the event kicked off on Friday, Aug. 1 at Quoggy Jo with a downhill mountain bike race and a festival favorite, the mini-bike championship. This event has adults racing around a small obstacle course on small toddler bicycles to the cheer of the surrounding crowd — setting the stage for a weekend more about laughter and camaraderie than fierce competition. Once again this year, it proved as entertaining for spectators as for racers.
Saturday, Aug. 2 brought festival-goers to the Nordic Heritage Center stadium for biking and running biathlon races, youth trail races, kids’ games and activities, and the main event, the six-hour trail races. In these competitions, racers ride solo or as teams to see how many laps they can complete on a running or biking course in six hours. This year, the participation exploded with nearly 130 total competitors split almost perfectly between runners and bikers.
“We’ve seen more participation than ever this year,” said event director Mike Smith, “from both local residents and those travelling from outside the region.”
The Trail Festival brought participants from as far away as Quebec, Nova Scotia and Boston, while also capturing the most participation to date from local trail users.
“The volunteers that run this festival are committed to making every year better than the year before,” said Smith. “It’s safe to say we’ve reached a tipping point, and the word about our festival is out. Everyone I spoke with over the weekend made the point of telling me they would be back next year and would be bringing their friends.”
This year the event also served as a fundraiser to help purchase special cross-country ski equipment for those with physical disabilities. The Nordic Heritage Sport Club, in cooperation with UMPI and an organization known as Maine Adaptive, will be working to bring adaptive cross-country ski programming to the Nordic Heritage Center this winter. This programming will be offered to those in the surrounding communities whose physical restrictions may previously have kept them from enjoying the facility and the sport of skiing. The festival helped generate awareness and support for the project, and proceeds are going towards the cause.
“The Nordic Trail Festival has found a unique foothold in the busy summer calendar of Aroostook County,” Smith said. “Bringing together an eclectic mix of competitors, recreationalists, families, visitors, events and culture, it’s easy to see why the weekend has become a sought after experience throughout New England and one of the premier grassroots festivals in northern Maine.”
For more information on the festival, links to photos and video from this year’s event, and a complete listing of results from the races visit www.nordictrailfestival.com.
“Put July 31 to August 2 on your calendar for next year,” Smith said, “planning has already begun.”
