Taste N Glow Balloon Festival will return to Stettin this summer after questions had been raised about its future

STETTIN – After questions were raised earlier this year about the future of the popular Taste N Glow Balloon Festival, the event’s board of directors announced Tuesday that the festival will return this summer.

The Taste N Glow Balloon Festival will be held the weekend of July 12 and 13 in the town of Stettin but few other details are known, according to a news release from the board. The event will include hot air balloon displays, food, family-friendly activities and more, the release said.

“The board is currently in the advanced planning stages and is working diligently to ensure that this year’s festival surpasses all expectations,” the release said. “Attendees can look forward to a weekend filled with mesmerizing balloon glows, gourmet food offerings, and a variety of entertainment options suitable for all ages.”

More information about the event’s schedule, ticket information and vendors will be announced soon. The board also plans to launch a new website dedicated to the festival that will serve as the primary source for event information and updates.

“We are excited to bring back the Taste N Glow Balloon Festival for another year,” said a spokesperson for the Taste N Glow Board of Directors. “This event is a testament to the spirit and beauty of our community. We are dedicated to creating a memorable and enjoyable experience for everyone involved.”

Questions about the festival’s future were raised after longtime organizers Steve and Nancy Woller announced Jan. 25 on the event’s Facebook page that they would no longer be involved after the festival lost the land it had previously used for the event.

At that time, the group’s board said they were working to find a new space for the festival.

Steve Woller started the Wausau Balloon Rally in 2002 at the Wausau Municipal Airport after attending a balloon rally in Arizona and appreciating a hot air balloon’s potential for advertising. In its first year, the balloon rally had 12 balloons. In 2014, Woller said their events were getting 15-20 balloons per year. A March 2023 Facebook post said over 40 balloons were expected that year.

Wausau Events, a nonprofit organization that works to create affordable events in the community, bills the event as the "largest annual event in central Wisconsin."

Wausau Events said in an email to the Wausau Daily Herald in January that it "was profoundly saddened" to hear the balloon festival may not happen in 2024. It said Woller's efforts to start the Wausau Balloon Rally in 2002 led to a partnership between Wausau Events and Woller that became the Balloon & Rib Fest, an annual event "that became part of Wausau's history and grew each year until the COVID pandemic in 2020."

COVID-19 mitigation efforts caused the 2020 and 2021 events at the airport to be canceled, which led to the creation of the Taste N Glow festival. It started in 2021 and has been held each year since in Stettin.

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Editor Jamie Rokus can be reached at jrokus@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter at @Jamie_Rokus.

This article originally appeared on Stevens Point Journal: Taste N Glow Balloon Festival will return to Stettin this summer