Future of Wausau balloon festival in doubt after departure of organizers and land sale
WAUSAU − The future of the popular Taste N Glow Balloon Festival is unknown after the exit of its longtime organizers and the loss of the land previously used for the event.
The event's Facebook page announced in a post Thursday that organizers Steve and Nancy Woller will no longer be involved, but the group's board says they are working to find a new space to hold the festival.
“We are saddened to hear Steve and Nancy Woller’s decision to not be part of the event,” the Taste N Glow Board of Directors said in a statement. “But this has been an annual event for over 20 years and we want to keep the event going for our community. ... (We) are dedicated to keeping the tradition and legacy alive for the balloon rally in Central Wisconsin."
The Facebook post explains that it takes about 120 acres to hold the event and it is likely losing access to 90 acres of land an adjacent landowner was allowing the event to use for free. That property owner is now selling the land.
According to land records, former Wisconsin State Sen. Jerry Petrowski owns land south of Stettin Drive that the balloon festival used in the three years the event has been held primarily on Wausau Grass Drags & Swap Meet property.
“A very generous land owner [sic] allowed us to use his 90 acres for parking for FREE,” the post on the Taste N Glow Facebook page said. “Last year he announced that he wanted to sell his land and we worked hard to raise funds to purchase his property. We came up short in our fundraising needs and can’t purchase the property.”
Steve Woller started the Wausau Balloon Rally in 2002 at 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.
The three-day event, held the first full weekend after the Fourth of July, features hot air balloons, a flea market, swap meet, a children's craft tent, air balloon rides and more. 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 Thursday 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.
"We hope a solution presents itself to allow the Taste N Glow Balloon Fest to continue in the greater Wausau area and appreciate Steve’s many years of dedication and partnership," the statement from Wausau Events continued.
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Erik Pfantz covers local government and education in central Wisconsin for USA-TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin and values his background as a rural Wisconsinite. Reach him at epfantz@gannett.com or connect with him on X (formerly Twitter) @ErikPfantz.
This article originally appeared on Wausau Daily Herald: Future of Wausau balloon festival in doubt after organizers exit
