Balloons over Waikato 2024: Classic Events to hand over festival organisation

Balloons over Waikato will take place from March 19-23 this year. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer

Hamilton-based event management business Classic Events will no longer run the Balloons over Waikato Festival.

Classic Events general manager Michele Connell said after 20 years of running Balloons over Waikato, she had decided to “hang up my hat”

“Whilst it sounds a long time, and it is, it seems to have flown by and I have enjoyed being part of such an important event for the community.”

Connell said she felt it was time for a change, but she would not leave the event industry and instead focus on her other events.

Balloons over Waikato is overseen by a trust and the Board of Trustees has now started the search for a new delivery partner of the event.

No new organiser has been announced yet.

“Our contract does not conclude until the end of June so will still be around to wrap up the event and hand over to the new event team.

“Thank you for your support of the event over the years and while I will miss being part of such a feel-good event, I will also be looking forward to having a bit more of a summer in the future.”

The news comes as all 30,000 free tickets for this year’s Nightglow have been snapped up.

The free tickets were released at 9am this morning and the event was fully booked within 20 minutes. People who have been left empty-handed can sign up for the waitlist via Ticketek.

Danielle Zollickhofer is a multimedia journalist and assistant news director at the Waikato Herald. She joined NZME in 2021 and is based in Hamilton.

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