The Centralia City Council on Monday night, as part of the consent agenda, approved an ordinance permitting the Centralia Chamber of Commerce to host Balloon Fest annually in Fairview Park. The Chamber relocated the event to Fairview Park this year from its past home of Foundation Park, claiming that an understanding with the Centralia Foundation could not be reached about electrical improvements needed in Foundation Park. Chamber director Marcus Holland said at Monday’s meeting that following a successful Balloon Fest in Fairview Park this year, the board of directors unanimously voted to make it the event’s home for the foreseeable future.
“We are the Chamber of Commerce,” Holland said, “and to have an event that actually impacts our community and brings people to see parts of our community they normally wouldn’t see, with restaurants and retail and in a public park like that, is awesome. There was a lot of positive feedback. When my board of directors talked about reserving the park for future years, it was unanimous that we should just lock it in. This is the 37th year of the event, and we would like to see it happening for another 37 years.”
Holland says the Chamber has invested in Fairview Park with the hope of improving Balloon Fest and other events being held in the park in the future.
“We want to be able to plan far enough ahead that if we’re investing in the infrastructure in that park like we did this year, spending over $15,000 on electric upgrades, and if we can continue to do so to keep the park accessible for more events so more events, that’s what we want to continue doing.”
Holland said that Balloon Fest in Fairview Park had the highest total attendance in recent years. Using analytics software, the Chamber estimates that 30,000 people attended this year’s Balloon Fest, while average attendance in Foundation Park was around 20,000, with the previous high mark being 25,000 in 2023.
Although Holland says overall feedback on the new location has been positive, support for Balloon Fest’s move to Fairview Park is not universal. In public comment, Roger Campbell spoke against the ordinance approving Balloon Fest annually in Fairview Park, claiming it was not in the city’s best interest and that the ordinance should have been pulled out from the consent agenda and discussed separately at a later date.
Under the ordinance, the Chamber is required to provide general liability insurance coverage and continue to request the approval of specific planning details each year. The event is run independently by the chamber and will continue to coordinate with city services for public safety, traffic control, and general support. The Chamber will be permitted to use the park at no charge in addition to waiving the vendor licensing requirement and allowing vendors within the park.
