Pigs are flying in Burns Lake as annual bike festival soars

In 2012, Village of Burns Lake received a $20,000 grant from Northern Development through the Marketing Initiatives program towards this $105,000 project. This has been a funding partnership of Village of Burns Lake and Northern Development


Burns Lake’s Big Pig mountain bike festival is quickly becoming the premier summer event for gear-heads across northern B.C. – in part thanks to Northern Development’s support. Now in its seventh year, the Big Pig takes full advantage of the extensive mountain biking trails in Burns Lake that offer fun for beginners and thrills for veteran trail thrashers alike. In 2012, Northern Development helped promote the festival with a $20,000 grant from its Marketing Initiatives program. The funding was used to pay for posters, brochures and trail maps that promoted the event. The Big Pig’s organizers also used it to buy new timing equipment, portable tents and developed high quality video footage to promote the festival. The funding also helped get bigger prizes for riders and helped book high profile talent for the Big Pig Gig, a concert held at the same time as the mountain bike festival.
The project has helped to increase tourism in Burns Lake and the Lakes District, and has boosted media attention focused on the event, creating new opportunities to promote the community and mountain biking in the area. The Big Pig is now larger enough that it results in a significant impact on the local economy, including increased hotel bookings, and campground, service, supply and restaurant use.

Guy Epkins-Shaffer, president of the Burns Lake Mountain Biking Association tells us, “Every year the Big Pig gets bigger and better, helping promote the world class trails that put Burns Lake on the map as a mountain biking destination.”

Marketing Initiatives

The Marketing Initiative program provides funding to support new marketing campaigns or projects that position a community or region to take advantage of opportunities that support economic vitality and diversification. These marketing projects must be new initiatives that stand alone from existing marketing activities.

View Funding Program

Rose Lake Residents Work Together To Restore Local Community Hall Near Burns Lake

The Rose Lake Community Hall renovation has allowed for continued access to educational, recreational and social programming for the rural community of Rose Lake. The hall represents the only recreation infrastructure available in the community and the only facility in the community capable of serving as an Emergency Operations Centre…

View Story