Balloons will be floating high above Pahrump at the end of April after action by the county commission.
The Pahrump Balloon Festival was unanimously approved by the Nye County Commission during a Tuesday meeting (5-0), though a there were a few bumps along the way. A scheduling conflict with the Pahrump Valley Little League nearly put a wrench into plans, but commissioners worked to resolve the issue.
”This a community event,” said Jenney Sartin, CEO of the Pahrump Valley Chamber of Commerce during the meeting to sort out the scheduling issues. “This was the last big event before everything shut down, and we’re excited that we’re going to be able to move forward with being the first big event for reopening. I think everyone in the community would be extremely disappointed if we were not able to move forward.”
According to county officials at the meeting, larger community events take precedence over smaller ones and groups are made aware of this fact upon booking county facilities.
Show nearly stopped
Sartin was sympathetic to the Little League conflict.
“As to the baseball, I’m sad, I’m a baseball mom, so I understand,” Sartin said. “However, this is the way it’s done all over the state.”
But had the county not moved forward quickly enough, the event might have had trouble going ahead.
“If we change the criteria that we submitted to the state, we would have to submit a state report all over again,” Sartin said.
The state requires that the plan submitted at that level be submitted 30 days prior to the event.
Commissioners eventually settled on approving the event and creating a fix for the Little League, where the sports team would play at Petrack Park via a state waiver and putting up a temporary fence with the county’s assistance through COVID-19 funds.
One of the major changes for this year’s event is that the balloons will be launching from Ian Deutch Park, not Petrack Park.
Due to criteria from the state set out due to COVID-19 pushed the event into the new venue.
“The reason we moved the field is because of the state criteria in order to meet the requirements that are set by the state in order to get our large gathering plan approved,” Sartin said. “We have to be able to be inside a fenced facility, so that we can monitor the number of people coming in. It was not a random decision. This is something that’s been in the works for months.”
The plan moves forward and prior delays
The event was already delayed in how the scheduling rolled out after the governor’s order went into effect earlier in 2021. The event was set to take off in March.
Despite the wait, things are set to move ahead.
The festival, the first major event since things went dark over a year ago due to the pandemic, will light up on April 29 through May 2 in Pahrump.
The event will be held at Ian Deutch Park, located at 1600 Honeysuckle Street.
For more information, head to the chamber’s Facebook page or at https://pahrumpchamber.com/
For ticket information, head here https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2021-pahrump-balloon-festival-tickets-141498009355
Contact Editor Jeffrey Meehan at jmeehan@pvtimes.com