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2012 Art and Balloon Festival
page 19 Monday, August 27, 2012
they open at 11 a.m. on Sunday and close at 5 p.m.
Tarter also noted they like to be open for The Art
of Wine, as when the evening starts winding down
at the wine tent, folks often stop by on their way to
their cars.
Tarter spoke about the festival in general,
saying: “I think it is great. It shows off our town,
and people are always in a good mood.”
On the south side of the square, behind
the arcade, is Guzzardo’s restaurant. This year
Guzzardo’s will serve the food at the VIP tent at
the airport on Saturday night --something many are
already looking forward to. But they will also have
their restaurant open during the weekend.
Frankie Guzzardo agrees with Lanterman and
Tarter that the festival is very good for downtown
businesses.
“The balloon festival weekend is very exciting
for all of us,” she said. “Our weekend traffic is
always good, but what we see are a lot more
families coming in.”
And, on the far west side of town, away from
all the activities, Elaine Aue at Culver’s says they
see an increase in their business, particularly with
all the people who come and stay at the hotels. Last
year in particular, when the power went out at the
airport, they saw a lot of people who came in to eat.
“I think that it is a wonderful thing for the
community to do, and I hope everyone comes out
and enjoys it,” she said.
Hotel-motel
Best Western, Kenna Schaffer, manager’s
assistant
Schaffer said that the weekend festival definitely
brings more people in. Last week the motel was
already sold out for this Saturday.
“It certainly helps to be sold out,” she said.
During the Logan County Board’s finance
committee meetings, Chuck Ruben has noted that
motel-motel taxes are highest during the Art &
Balloon Festival, and motor fuel taxes are always
higher for this time also.
Downtown business
Main Street Lincoln
Seth Goodman, president
Goodman commented on the festival and its
effect on business:
“Each year it’s the biggest weekend of the year.
You have people from out of town; people from in
town are downtown, just pop into the stores. A lot
of these stores have sidewalk sales during this time, and
they’ve all said that it is by far their biggest weekend of
the year. I know they’re all looking forward to it.
“The event is good for these businesses because of
the hours. It goes during the day and the weekend too.
The Art of Wine has moved its hours up earlier in the
day. Many of the businesses have expanded hours, and
the traffic flow is phenomenal for them.”
Goodman observed the strategic placement of the
activities, with the art fair in Latham Park, the craft fair
in Scully, and Art of Wine and other activities between.
This leads people to walk through downtown and pass
the businesses from one end of town to the other.
“It’s well-thought-out, whoever did that originally,”
he said.
He also noted that with the balloons out at the airport,
it spreads things out, and it’s good for the community as
a whole.
Historic sites and tourism
Stuart Churchill, Postville Courthouse
This Sunday, Postville, the historic courthouse where
Abraham Lincoln practiced law, has an 1800s Craft Fair
from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The crowd that the Art & Balloon Festival draws is
expected to bring more visitors to the Postville event and
vice versa: Some may come in for the 1800s Craft Fair
and also visit the Art & Balloon Festival.
The historic courthouse site and its activities are part
of the whole tourism package that benefits Lincoln and
Logan County.
Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau director Geoff
Ladd said that the Art & Balloon Festival is part of the
$34 million in tourism’s economic impact for Logan
County.
[LDN staff compilation]