Organizers of a Memorial Day celebration say this year’s event would be very low key compared to similar events in the past.
Project Uplift USA, the organizers of the annual Balloon Fest, which took place in Fuquay-Varina for the first four years of its existence, say the Harnett County Board of Commissioners and county staff, misunderstood their intentions for this year.
Project Uplift USA volunteer Brian Hoyle told The Daily Record his group has no plans to bring Balloon Fest to Harnett County in 2019. Instead, he says, the group wants to bring a Field of Flags to honor fallen veterans Memorial Day weekend.
He said while the Balloon Fest is at the forefront of the group’s efforts, any reference to it would be for 2020 and beyond.
“I believe there is an opportunity for a more well rounded understanding of what our volunteers were requesting from Harnett County in 2019,” Mr. Hoyle said. “Specifically, we were asking for nothing. That’s correct. We did not see a need for fire, EMS, sheriff’s deputies, parking, power, lights or any of the festival resources one has come to expect from Freedom Balloon Fest.”
In their work session last week, the Harnett County Board of Commissioners decided not to include the matter on the agenda during their regular session, which took place last night.
Mr. Hoyle, citing a previous story in The Daily Record, said his organization is in no way seeking resources from county departments for the 2019 event. During their work session, the discussion of county resources included the use of fire, EMS and deputies from the Harnett County Sheriff’s Office. All those involved expressed their concern as to the cost of hosting the event, which was tentatively slated to take place at Harnett Central Middle School.
“Let us be clear that we were not asking for the resources you quoted from staff and commissioners in your article,” Mr. Hoyle said. “We don’t see a need for fire, EMS, deputies, etc. We thought they would be discussing 2020 and beyond. In short, from what I read, it sounds like there was a lack of understanding about what we need.”
Commissioners opted to table the matter until more information could be gathered and the county had an opportunity to evaluate a proposal submitted by Project Uplift USA that would bring the Freedom Balloon Fest to Harnett County for the foreseeable future.
“They sent us an email and they’ve scaled it back,” County Manager Paula Stewart told the board. “This year they only planned to do the Field of Flags mission, they may have a few balloons go up, but it won’t be the big event they usually have in Fuquay because they don’t have time.”
What she told the commissioners somewhat falls in line with what Mr. Hoyle told The Daily Record. In an email, Mr. Hoyle said the organization was not considering even a scaled-back version for this year. Instead he said it would be a very small event focused solely on the Field of Flags.
“So as not to mislead the public we would not market this year’s Memorial Day weekend activities as Freedom Balloon Fest 2019,” he said. “Any reference to the festival would be forward thinking to 2020 as promotion. We do not wish to influence the general public to come to see balloons when we are not formally organizing support systems for possible crowds.”
He said while there would be balloons present, they by no means would be the focal point.
“The goal of any activities over Memorial Day weekend 2019 would serve as a means to promote our primary mission to remember and honor while we inform the public that we have a new location for Freedom Balloon Fest 2020, if such a relationship exists,” he said.
One area of concern raised by all those involved from the county’s standpoint was the number of visitors to the event and the problems with parking, traffic and other related factors.
Mr. Hoyle said he doesn’t believe the number of visitors to a Field of Flags would even come close to the usual number of visitors to the four-day event.
“It would be amazing if we had a crush of people for our Field of Flags, but I don’t see that as realistic,” he said. “When people hear there are no balloons, no games, or food vendors, music, etc. And, we won’t even call it Freedom Balloon Fest except to reference the future, they would wait until next year.”
While it is unlikely the county would be willing to offer any support this year, Mr. Hoyle said he has informed by Harnett County Schools, their offer for use of Harnett Central Middle School is still open.
“We’ve been contacted by the superintendent of schools and he has reassured us that the property is there for us to use for the Field of Flags memorial as described unless it is determined we need to move elsewhere,” Mr. Hoyle said. “Meanwhile, we await feedback on a letter of intent from the county prior to the end of March regarding their intentions for 2020 and beyond.”
