The Zachary City Council unanimously adopted a resolution Feb. 28 pledging its support to have the City of Zachary as the potential host of the next Balloon Festival.
Chip Mills, Economic Development Director for the Zachary Chamber of Commerce, said although it is very early on in the process, the resolution would let the Louisiana Ballooning board know Zachary is open to having a dialogue.
"This is a great opportunity for us to have the Balloon Festival in the northern part of the region. This is huge and would mean about 90,000 plus people attending over two days," said Mills.
Mills added that the North Capital Region Alliance is working together to assess feasibly hosting the annual hot air balloon event.
The North Capitol Region Alliance was formed to guide economic development efforts in East Feliciana, West Feliciana, Pointe Coupee and Zachary.
On Feb. 1, Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge announced it would not host the hot air balloon festival for the first time in nine years.
Zachary, however, is not the only potential site for the balloon races. Several other parishes including Ascension and Livingston are also interested in hosting what Sports Illustrated in 2005 called one of "America's Top 25 Summer Essentials."
For more on this story and the Zachary City Council meeting held Tuesday, Feb. 28, please pick up a copy of the March 7 issue of the Zachary Plainsman-News.
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