This year’s festival will run from Friday, July 17, to Saturday, July 18, with balloon flights also happening from 7 to 11 a.m. Sunday, July 19. The festival will be on the grounds of Smith Park, near the intersection of Tytus Avenue and Verity Parkway.
“This is a signature event that we try to get behind every year. It’s the premier event of the summer that brings everyone together,” Lee said.
The credit union renewed its sponsorship for one year, contributing $20,000. The festival has more than 40 other sponsors that help fund the event’s $100,000 annual budget, said Dave Pearce, the outgoing treasurer of the Ohio Challenge.
Organizers are hoping that MidFirst’s decision will encourage other sponsors to step up as well.
“Clearly, getting the lead sponsor is most important and it sets the pace for the rest,” Pearce said.
Organizers said they understand they have responsibility to the community and their sponsors to put on a good event. The festival has become a symbol for Middletown with pictures of hot-air balloons appearing on the city’s Web site and on the covers of local phone books.
“We owe our sponsors a good bang for their buck and we owe it to the community to provide a reasonably priced event,” said Ann Mort, publicist for the balloon festival.
A good indicator of the event’s popularity, Pearce said, is that the number of sponsors and the dollars they give have remained the same despite the economic downturn.
“We most definitely have to manage our money a little more wisely, but (the festival) is one of those things that’s always going to be a staple of our budget,” Lee said.
Details of this year’s festival are not yet finalized, but organizers said they would like to add more tethered balloon rides. Last year, the festival had three such balloons operating at once, and even then, “there were rather long lines,” Pearce said.
Parking will continue to be at the Middletown airport, with shuttle service to Smith Park.
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2836 or erobinette@coxohio.com.
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