LEWISTON — The State Office of Tourism will kick in $60,000 to help make sure that this year’s Lewiston-Auburn Balloon Festival is a go, it was announced on Friday.
The money, coming in grant form, will be used to support marketing and management of the three-day festival. State officials also hope that the funding will help draw new audiences to the balloon festival and hopefully increase the number of overnight stays by festival goers.
The way state officials see it, the balloon festival helps strengthen Maine’s image nationally and internationally. It also benefits local businesses as thousands of people flock to the area to see the big balloons.
“The efforts of the Lewiston-Auburn Balloon Festival team to make the 30th anniversary event a success will benefit the entire region,” Hannah Collins, deputy director of the Maine Office of Tourism, said.
After the original organizers of the Great Falls Balloon Festival cancelled it in May, the city of Lewiston stepped in to run it. In recognition of that, the name was changed to the Lewiston-Auburn Balloon Festival.
Around the same time, donations began coming in to support the festival, including $49,000 in private funding. Emerson Toyota, the Auburn car dealership, kicked in $20,000 as the top sponsor.
In June, festival organizers said they needed to raise $180,000 in private funding toward the $225,000 festival budget. At the same time, former Lewiston Mayor Mark Cayer and former Auburn Mayor Jason Levesque were named co-chairmen of the festival’s sponsorship committee.
The balloon festival, according to a news release issued Friday afternoon, helps to strengthen Maine’s image nationally and internationally.
The Lewiston-Auburn Balloon Festival, scheduled for Aug. 16-18 at Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston, along with complimentary events at Festival Plaza in Auburn, is expected to bring over 100,000 visitors.
“On behalf of the sponsorship committee,” Cayer said, “I express our deep appreciation to the Maine Office of Tourism for approving our application and committing to partner with us in promoting such an iconic annual event for our community. It’s also important to recognize the city staff and the LA Metro Chamber for identifying this opportunity and writing a competitive grant application. With this award, we are over 2/3 of the way to securing our fundraising goal to help ensure this a successful, memorable event.”
Festival organizers are planning a series of announcements of specialty balloons, additional sponsors, music performers, amusements, nonprofit vendors, crafters, family-friendly activities and more in the coming weeks.
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