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 The Chamber, now Logan County Alliance, has always gaged the
success of the weekend on the “gate”. The “gate” is the amount of
money collected at the entrances of the airport (or Fairgrounds in
previous years). In 2015 the total number was over $54,000, which is
almost $2,500 more than the previous largest gate number on record
from 2013, and over $10,000 larger than the next biggest year in
2011. 2015’s gate was $30,568 greater than 2014’s nearly devastating
year. The Chamber organization took a huge blow from the 2014
Balloon Festival due to bad weather. “Because we rely on this event
to help sustain our organization throughout the year, not only
missing our budgeted number, but not even coming close to it could
have crippled us, especially if we had not had the opportunity to
make up this revenue with the added events this year.”, said Andi
Hake, Logan County Alliance president and CEO.
The Alliance isn’t calling 2015 a success just based on the
exceptional gate number, but the overall feedback from vendors,
volunteers, and guests that attended the event has helped them form
this opinion. “It went well. As an overall, balloon fest it was our
greatest. With the changes we didn’t know how it would affect the
turn out, but we got a ton of big complements. We had great sales,
one of our best years. We sold out of some food. We prayed for the
rain to stay away and it did, so everything was good.” said a
representative from the Second Baptist Church of Lincoln, IL in
regards to their Bar-B-Que food vendor stand they have had for many
years. Wild Time Exotics out of Springfield, IL said “It went better
than I expected. We were pleased with the crowd and we were busy
until dark. It was our first year that we were there and it blew our
minds.”
 There were more than 300 volunteer spots filled by local individuals
to help the Alliance execute this massive event. “I felt an excited
atmosphere about the festival that hasn’t been as prevalent in
previous Balloon Festivals. Patrons interacting with the vendors,
enjoying the carnival, or watching the balloons, all were much more
active and lively this year from my perspective as a long-time
volunteer of the event.”, said Konnor Browne, life-long resident of
Lincoln.
The Alliance is already working on plans for the 2016 Lincoln
Balloon Festival. “We are already lining up bands for 2016”, said
Cara Barr, events coordinator for the Logan County Alliance. Barr
continued, “With this being my first year planning the event, I’m
very proud of our success, but I have been taking good notes of all
the things I’d like to change and implement for next year. I have a
great planning team including our local pilots, airport logistics
team, coordinators and the emergency/safety team we work with”.
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The formal wrap-up/evaluation meeting is next week and a survey to the community
will be going out at the beginning of the week to gather constructive feedback
from those that attended the event. This group will evaluate the impact on the
community and what positive changes can be made for future years. “At this time
we’ve heard very good things from the hospitality industry in our community in
regards to the Balloon Fest weekend., said Maggie McMurtrey, Tourism Director,
Logan County Alliance. “Many of our hotels were full, and some of our
restaurants had outstanding weekends as well. Having outside money spent here in
Logan County is vital to the growth and survival of our community. Having more
events throughout the year has definitely had a positive impact here.” continued
McMurtrey.
The Alliance is discussing forming an events council to evaluate the major
events the organization plans annually. This group will not be responsible for
planning the logistics of each event. The council would be the events
coordinator’s sounding board, support, and the group that is responsible for
evaluating and the oversite of the growth and progress of the events. For
example, the Oasis issued a statement that they will no longer be planning or
running the craft fair that has traditionally taken place downtown. This council
will evaluate if the Alliance should take that component on, ask another group
to take it on, cut it entirely, move it to a new weekend, or reinvent it. The
events council would be charged with helping the Arts in the Park planning
committee with the areas they are struggling with to help ensure the success of
that event.
If individuals are interested in volunteering for any of the events planning
committees or have questions regarding any of the events the Alliances runs
please contact them at 217-735-2385 or
cara.barr@lincolnillinois.com.
All of the Alliance events are listed on their website
www.lincolnillinois.com.
[Andi Hake, President & CEO, Logan
County Alliance]
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