Ascension Parish, which is still grappling with recovery efforts from south Louisiana’s historic flooding, has canceled the 2016 Ascension Hot Air Balloon Festival scheduled for Sept. 23-24, festival organizers announced today in a Facebook post.
Like many other parishes in south Louisiana, Ascension was hit particularly hard by the flooding from roughly two weeks ago. Tens of thousands of homes have been affected, parish officials have estimated.
The annual festival usually takes place at the Lamar Dixon Expo Center, but the facility has been used for emergency and recovery operations ever since the flooding devastated the region. The center appears positioned to remain an emergency facility indefinitely.
The parish plans on bringing the festival back next year, Parish President Kenny Matassa says in a statement.
“We are hurting, but on the mend, in Ascension Parish. Over 50 percent of our annual attendees at the Hot Air Balloon Festival are folks from the affected areas,” Matassa says. “I want them to know we are experiencing this trial together, and next year we will bring the Hot Air Balloon Festival back for everyone to enjoy.”
