Organizers Acknowledged They Did Not Have Adequate Staff, But High Winds Were Primary Cause

The organizers of the Wairarapa Balloon Festival in New Zealand were overwhelmed last Saturday by the number of people who showed up for a planned night glow, and then the event had to be cancelled.

The cancellation was officially attributed to high winds on Saturday that prevented the inflation of the balloons, but the organizers of the event said they were not prepared for the number of people who bought tickets for the display.

In a statement released to the New Zealand Herald, the festival's organizers said "In the past, the Night Glow has typically attracted between 2000 to 4000 people. Our ticket pre-sales suggested we should have a crowd of 6000.

"Preliminary ticket sales figures indicate that Saturday night's event attracted 15,000 and put our resources severely under pressure.

"We acknowledge we did not have enough staff and volunteers to help with ticketing and car parking, which led to congestion and long queues.

"The large crowd also led to long queues in the food area and for that we apologise.

"Coupled with that, strong winds during the evening meant that the hot-air balloons were unable to be inflated. The decision not to inflate them was made by our experienced and professional balloon meister in the interest of public safety.

"We realize not having the balloons inflated was disappointing for everyone involved."

Other events, including musical performances and a fireworks show, did take place. And there was some fire as well. Some of the balloonists performed a "canister burnoff" timed to the music.

(Night Glow image from file)

FMI: http://www.nzballoons.co.nz