LEWISTON, ME – The Lewiston-Auburn Balloon Festival, hosted by the City of Lewiston and in partnership with the City of Auburn, announced today that the State of Maine Office of Tourism awarded festival organizers with $60,000 in grant funding to support marketing and managing the iconic three-day festival in the twin cities.

The announcement follows notable developments earlier, where balloon festival organizers named Emerson Toyota in Auburn as presenting sponsor of the event and appointed former Lewiston Mayor Mark Cayer and former Auburn Mayor Jason Levesque as co-chairs of the festival’s sponsorship committee.

“We’re excited to support the cities in their work with community partners, nonprofits, businesses, and past organizers to revitalize this important event”, said Hannah Collins, Deputy Director, Maine Office of Tourism. “The efforts of the Lewiston-Auburn Balloon Festival team to make the 30th anniversary event a success will benefit the entire region.”

The Lewiston-Auburn Balloon Festival applied for and was awarded a Maine Office of Tourism Special Event Grant. The intent of the Special Event Grant is to provide marketing funds to existing, well-established events for the expansion and progression of marketing strategies to attract new audiences and increase overnight visitation and length of stay. Special events can strengthen Maine’s brand and image nationally and internationally, have a direct economic impact on the state economy and attract visitation in Maine’s shoulder season.

“On behalf of the sponsorship committee, I express our deep appreciation to the Maine Office of Tourism for approving our application and committing to partner with us in promoting such an iconic annual event for our community,” said former Lewiston Mayor Mark Cayer, sponsorship committee co-chair. “It’s also important to recognize the city staff and the LA Metro Chamber for identifying this opportunity and writing a competitive grant application. With this award, we are over 2/3 of the way to securing our fundraising goal to help ensure this a successful, memorable event.”

The Lewiston-Auburn Balloon Festival, scheduled for August 16-18 at Simard Payne Park in Lewiston, with complimentary events at Festival Plaza in Auburn, is expected to bring over 100,000 visitors to the event. Festival organizers are planning a series of announcements of specialty balloons, additional sponsors, music performers, amusements, non-profit vendors, crafters, family-friendly activities and more in the coming weeks.

More information on the event, balloon rides, donations, and volunteer opportunities can be found at: www.LABalloonFest.org or www.VisitMaine.com.