The provincial government is helping blow up Windsor’s Balloonapalooza to even bigger proportions.
The Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association received a $40,000 Celebrate Ontario grant to support two new initiatives for the balloon-crazy festival: 3D projection mapping, which will will make a downtown building seem like it’s coming alive, and Nouveau Circus, which incorporates air, dance and acrobatic movement to tell a story.
“We’re extremely grateful to the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport for the funding, and thrilled that we’ll have an opportunity to enhance the festival’s programming while increasing event attendance,” Larry Horwitz, chair of the Downtown Windsor BIA, said Monday in a news release.
Balloonapalooza, which takes place in the city centre Aug. 17 and 18, is North America’s only cold-air balloon festival and features giant inflatables, live music concerts, sidewalk cafes, train rides, an amusement park, balloon artists, clowns, buskers and more.
Two other local festivals also received Celebrate Ontario funding. The Carrousel of the Nations, June 7 to June 23, and the Shores of Erie International Wine Festival, Sept. 5-8, received $75,000 each.
In this file photo, Ashley MacIsaac performs at the Riverfront Plaza for the Carrousel of the Nations Saturday June 9, 2012 in Windsor, Ont. The festival will spread across the city for the next two weekends celebrating ethno-cultural groups in Windsor. (KRISTIE PEARCE/THE WINDSOR STAR)
In this file photo, Erie Shore Vineyard owner Harvey Hollingshead holds up a glass of one of his red wines at one of his two booths at this year’s Shores of Erie International Wine Festival on Sunday, September 9, 2012. (REBECCA WRIGHT/ The Windsor Star)
Find Windsor Star on Facebook
