Organizers of an annual hot-air balloon festival in Wyoming have reluctantly decided to end the event after 19 years.
Mikki Smith, organizing committee president, says the 12-member panel voted unanimously Jan. 21 to end the Wild West Balloon Fest in Cody.
Organizer Jack Way tells the Cody Enterprise that the chief problems with the August event are a lack of major sponsors and the high cost of insurance. But he says a decline in ballooning in Wyoming and the rest of the country also hurt.
Way says the festival has lost money for the past several years, and the committee decided it didn’t want to be subsidized or borrow money.
Copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
Acrisure Goes After Former Owners of Businesses it Acquired for Leaving to Compete 
Karen Read Sues Police Agencies That Investigated Her Boyfriend’s Death 
Artist Suing FIFA Over Destruction of Dallas Whale Mural 
Georgia Brokers and Agents Alarmed After Court Ruling Expands Liability for Them 
