A ceremony that attracts air and space luminaries to mark the enshrinement of aviation pioneers and trailblazers will stay in Dayton in 2013.

The National Aviation Hall of Fame Board of Directors decided the coveted ceremony dubbed “the Oscar’s night in aviation” will stay in the hometown of Wilbur and Orville Wright at least through next year, leaders said.

The hall of fame marked the 50th anniversary of the event Saturday when more than 600 people, from astronauts to aviators, gathered at the Dayton Convention Center for the black-tie ceremony. Next year’s event will again be in October, but a location in the city and a date are not yet chosen.

“This was an easy decision by the board (of directors) to take the heat off the decision for next year,”said Phil Roberts, National Aviation Hall of Fame chairman.”It was almost a no-brainer decision to keep Dayton for enshrinement.”

Hall of fame leaders weren’t prepared to search for another location outside Dayton quickly in what’s normally at least a six month process, said Bill Harris, Hall president.

“It was impractical from the will of the board’s perspective and I didn’t see anybody jumping up and saying, ‘Oh, we’ve got to move out of Dayton,’” Harris said. “Nobody even asked if other cities were involved.”

However, Roberts said, directors will plan in the next three to five years what’s ahead in the event’s future.

“That has to be a fair and balanced competition that we in the past have not spent a lot of time on,” he said.

Phil Parker, Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce president and chief executive officer, said the region put out front its hospitality and heritage.

“They know what they have here,” he said. “There are very few unknowns.”

Parker organized a committee to attract more local sponsors to keep the event in Dayton.

“It’s our hope in the way in which the community has participated this year that we can compete better than anyone else,” said Betty Darst, vice president of enshrinement.

Earlier this year, the Carolinas Aviation Museum in Charlotte offered an unsolicited bid of incentives to try to woo the event to North Carolina.

The offer prompted alarm among aviation heritage advocates and civic and business leaders in the Miami Valley, who banded together to ensure the event stayed in Dayton.

The nonprofit National Aviation Hall of Fame, which has inducted more than 220 honorees, is inside the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.