Balloons Over Vermilion’s Dean Carlton and Carly Goodwin joined Tommy B on D102’s “The Big Show” Monday morning for the initial announcement that BOV is moving in 2026, in two different ways. Instead of in July, Balloons Over Vermilion will now be held the weekend of June 5th and 6th. And instead of Vermilion Regional Airport, the traditional summer event will now be held at Kennekuk County Park.
Dean Carlton told Tommy B that BOV as always enjoyed a good relationship with the airport; but there have always been complications about holding such an event at an active airport. Carlton says the Vermilion County Conservation District is very happy that Balloons Over Vermilion is coming.
AUDIO: Our balloon community loves Kennekuk. And the Conservation District is really open to our participation there. They are thrilled and excited to bring more people to what we consider a gem of Vermilion County. The Kennekuk County Park is absolutely gorgeous. We don’t have to be as careful about fencing, and making sure that we keep the runways safe and secure in keeping people off those. They will tremendously by moving it to the park.
Carlton also mentioned the possibility of having Kennekuk attractions like the Bunker Hill Historic Area open during BOV. Carly Goodwin told Tommy B that anything you remember as part of BOV at the airport are indeed planned to be at Kennekuk.
AUDIO: All the things that you’ve loved at the airport, we expect to bring all of those to Kennekuk. I don’t think we’ve talked about not having anything. So we’ll still have live music, Kids Zone, all of our food vendors; of course, our balloons! We intend to have at least as many balloons that we had at the airport out at Kennekuk County Park. We’ll have the tethered rides; so, we expect to do all of that and many more.
To hear all of Tommy B’s talk with Dean Carlton and Carly Goodwin about Balloons Over Vermilion, please go to https://vermilioncountyfirst.com/big-show-bites-podcast/
