MADAWASKA – The International Snowmobile Festival is in its ninth year and still going strong, according to officials with the annual winter event.

Mike Guerrette, who sits on the 2004-05 board of directors for the International Snowmobile Festival, said Sunday it was “a huge success.”

Guerrette, who also is president of the Madawaska Snowmobile Club, said the festival drew approximately 560 people this year, about 200 more than last year’s figures.

The festival-goers, some of whom hailed from as far away as Ontario and Colorado, came to take part in the annual event, which ran from Feb. 4 to 6 and opened up more than 400 miles of snowmobile trails on both sides of the United States-Canada border.

Sponsored by the province of New Brunswick, the state of Maine, the towns of Madawaska and Edmundston, New Brunswick, 16 snowmobile clubs and 36 businesses and agencies, the weekend event offered snowmobile enthusiasts excellent trails, meals, drag races and more than $8,000 in prizes.

The festival provided the entire package for the price of a $15 passport. Riding the trails normally would cost nonresidents $40 a day in New Brunswick and an $80 registration fee in Maine, Guerrette said.

Festival officials prepared a 90-mile loop and a 200-mile loop on each side of the border for pass holders and held two daylong international poker runs. The activities – as well as perfect weather conditions and heavy snow cover – kept snowmobile traffic up all weekend and riders impressed by what they saw while on the trails.

“Everyone talked about how the trails were in excellent shape,” Guerrette said. “A lot of people are saying they’ll be back next year. We just got thumbs up all over the place and people smiling and grinning from ear to ear.”

Officials from Super Track Magazine, a Minnesota-based snowmobiling publication, also took in the event, conducting research for a feature article. It was the first time an industry magazine attended the festival.

While Guerrette was unsure what the magazine would focus on about the festival, he said that Super Track officials had nothing but good things to say about the region and the trails when they joined him for a ride Saturday afternoon.

As snowmobile officials anxiously await the article, they are gauging the festival’s success by how many people attended individual events.

Guerrette said the Madawaska Snowmobile Club saw more than 340 people at its spaghetti supper Saturday night, and officials fed about 350 to 400 people at the snowmobilers breakfast Sunday morning.

With the festival over, officials are pleased with the success, but they’re not going to rest on their laurels for too long: Within a week, Guerrette expects the board of directors will meet to talk about the 10th annual International Snowmobile Festival.