The Annual Hot Air Balloon Championship in Harrison will go on this year, but with a new sponsor. The event is set for Sept. 6-8.
This year’s host for the festival will be the Harrison Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and Explore Harrison. The event was previously sponsored by the Harrison Regional Chamber of Commerce, but declined this year, citing time and limited resources among several other reasons.
Chamber Board Chair Gwen Hoffman says, “Honestly, festivals restrain the progress of community development.” Hoffman says, “We spend 70-90 percent of our time preparing for a festival for a very limited rate of return. We also have to deal with the uncertainty of the weather.”
Another reason contributing to the chamber’s decision was a change in rules by the Federal Aviation Administration, including security aspects of the gas-filled balloon.
Chamber President and CEO Bob Largent acknowledged theirs was a difficult decision to make. However, Largent says, “We are pleased that the CVB and Explore Harrison have made this commitment, and we’ll work with them to transfer our knowledge to make the 2019 event a success.”
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