Council gets briefing on upcoming Jericho ATV festival
June 23, 2010
Berlin Daily Sun
BERLIN — Interest in the upcoming ATV festival at Jericho
Mountain State Park is high and the state is encouraging local businesses to get
involved.
The city council received a briefing on the festival Monday night from N.H.
Trails Bureau District Supervisor Clint Savage and Nancy Clark of the
Glen Group.
The festival will be held July 10, and 11, at the park and Clark said there is a lot of momentum building for the event. Her firm was hired last year by the state Department of Resources and Economic Development to do a North Country Marketing Initiative that included marketing the festival.
The free festival will include a poker run, scavenger hunt, and a mud pit. Clark said there will also be music and kids’ activities. Manufacturers and local dealers will be on hand with the latest off-highway vehicles including ATVs, side-by-sides and trail bikes available in many cases to demo.
Clark said they have focused on marketing the event out of state and region and have put the festival on hundreds of event listings. There is also a web page dedicated to the festival and every ATV club in the state has been notified. She said they are receiving inquires about the festival daily with a lot of interest from Canada and northern Maine.
She said now they are trying to get local businesses to participate. “The more local businesses thebetter,” she said. Clark is working with hotels and motels to offer lodging packages and hopes to get restaurants interesting in listing on the web site. Vendors, including Berlin police, will be offering food for sale at the festival with everything from Hawaiian ice and sausages to muffins and burgers available.
With limited parking at the park, Clark said the organizers have lined up parking lots all over the city for ATVers to use. Savage said riders at the festival do not have to register their ATV or trail bike if it is only used at the park, on the city’s connector trail, and on the Success trail system for the two days.
There are just over 50 miles of trails at the park. Mayor Paul Grenier said he can sees the event growing over time and said if it grows to be just five percent as big as Laconia Bike Week it will be a big shot in the arm for the local economy.
Clark said she would like to see more community involvement especially from restaurants which she said have been slow to respond. Councilor Bob Danderson asked if there is camping at the park yet.
Savage said no but the bureau expects soon to issue a request for proposals seeking a private developer to build and operate a campground under a long-term lease with the state. Danderson suggested getting the festival on the Outdoor Channel and Clark said she would pursue that suggestion.
For updated news on the festival go to www.jerichoatvfestival.com.