The last-minute addition of a laser show to the 2024 Great Smoky Mountains Balloon Festival could jeopardize future events after Townsend officials fined organizers under the city’s new special events ordinance. The law, passed last year, allows officials to deny future permits after violations.
A Townsend/Cades Cove Gateway Alliance representative apologized for the show during a Townsend City Council meeting Tuesday, Aug. 21, saying weather concerns led organizers to make the addition. The light show, which was not included in the group’s special event application, was intended to offset the possibility of storms grounding the festival’s titular balloons.
“We added that due to the weather that was going to come, and we thought it would make sure that our guests had something they could enjoy if the balloons didn’t go up,” a representative said.
Although encroaching weather did delay the balloons Saturday, Aug. 17, the wind eventually let up in the early evening, allowing one of Townsend’s most iconic festivals to get back underway. The laser show, which organizers said lasted around 20 minutes, also went ahead as planned.
Ordinance
City officials passed the special events ordinance last year amid demands from outspoken citizens to cut back on festivals and events. Townsend, often called “The Peaceful Side of the Smokies,” has become a focal point for regional and national celebrations, garnering protests from residents concerned about congestion and a tourism emphasis.
Under the new ordinance, qualifying organizers must apply for a permit at least 90 days in advance to receive approval from the city council, and must comply with a range of regulations around setup, administration and teardown. Violators may be fined up to $50 — the maximum allowed by state law — and “may be denied permits for future special events.”
“The issue with the light show is that there was not an opportunity for public input and an opportunity for commissioners to consider it in the process, which I think is a really good process,” Mayor Don Prater said Tuesday. “I don’t know that we have heard specifically what the concerns would be with the light show, but we would have been able to take that into account.”
Commissioner Becky Headrick, who cast the sole vote to deny the festival’s event permit in February, said she had concerns about the light from the lasers causing traffic accidents.
On Tuesday, Prater said the council could consider Saturday’s laser show with future applications for the event. Organizers, he said, told the city in February that the festival would not include such a show.
“This is unfortunate because city officials worked very hard through a number of workshops to put in place a fair and equitable process that allows event organizers to propose and our community to comment on festivals,” he said.
Economy
Proponents of the balloon festival Tuesday stressed the celebration’s economic benefits for the surrounding community. Townsend’s city budget is largely supported by sales tax, and figures provided with the 2024 event application estimate last year’s festival generated around $23,000 in local sales tax.
With an estimated attendance of 5,000 people, the 2023 festival’s greatest source of sales was lodging, followed by food and retail business. Total business sales were estimated at over $702,000, with the event supporting more than 430 jobs.
The balloon festival is also a key source of revenue for the Townsend Area Volunteer Fire Department. Parking proceeds serve as a fundraiser for the department, bringing in around a third of its budget.
In a period of growth and rising fire numbers, Townsend is faced with a dilemma, Fire Chief Don Stallions told council members Tuesday. The fire department can only pay for so much right now, and none of its members cut a paycheck. With costs such as the $20,000 refitting of a firetruck to deal with wildfires hanging over his head, Stallions said the department has to find money where it can.
Firefighters spent hours after the festival closed combatting a blaze that destroyed Townsend staple Little River BBQ Sunday morning. The equipment for those kinds of calls requires money, Stallions said, and that money has to come from somewhere.
“We do need to look at revenue, unfortunately, good, bad or indifferent, you’re going to have to pay your police officers, you’re going to have to pay for a fire department, you’re going to have to fix your roads,” he said. “You’re going to have to do all these things, and as a community, we have to decide, how are we going to fund that?”
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