Now, the Balloons over Waikato Trust Board announced Lightning Events as the new delivery partner, beginning work on July 1.
Balloons over Waikato Trust Board chairman Steve Gow said they were confident the event was in “very good hands”.
“The Board is extremely pleased to have Lightning Events confirmed as our new delivery partner. Following a comprehensive recruitment process, they were the obvious choice due to their depth and breadth of nationwide events experience.
“We look forward to an exciting future for this celebrated community event.”
Balloons over Waikato 2024. Photo / Mike Scott
Lightning Events, the organisers behind New Zealand’s craft chocolate festival Chockstock, the Wairarapa Wines Harvest Festival and Auckland’s Eden Festival, are a full-service event agency that has delivered a variety of events from intimate to large-scale, including festivals, fundraisers, concerts, expos and functions.
Lightning Events general manager Carla Steed told the Waikato Herald she was “really excited” about taking over Balloons over Waikato.
“It’s such a significant event for Waikato... and so loved by the community.
“We’re committed to upholding this iconic event’s legacy while adding our own spark.
She paid tribute to Classic Events.
“We have immense respect for their two-decade legacy, and we’re honoured to now be involved. We know we have big shoes to fill.”
It will be the first event, Lightning Events will run in the Waikato.
“We deliver events nationwide. We already organised events in Auckland, Whangarei, Dunedin and we have a small team in Hawke’s Bay,” Steed said.
Balloons over Waikato 2024. Photo / Mike Scott
“From our perspective, we don’t need to be based [in the region where the event is held] to deliver a great event, but we know it’s beneficial to have local knowledge and insight, so we will be employing local team members, and our team will spend some time in Waikato every month to get an understanding of the region.”
She said Balloons over Waikato 2025 would “build on the strong foundations” established by Classic Events, with the aim being a “stable” first event for her team, before thinking of what the event’s next steps could be.
Balloons over Waikato fans shouldn’t be worried about “too many changes” to the event next year.”
After 20 years at the helm of Balloons over Waikato, Classic Events general manager Michele Connell and her team are focusing on other events.
Connell said she was confident Lightning Events would do a “fantastic job”.
Balloons over Waikato 2024. Photo / Mike Scott
“They have the experience of running events nationwide, they got the expertise to grow and develop [the event]. I think they were a very good choice.
“The fundamentals of running an event are the same no matter where you are based.
“We know under Lightning Events, Balloons over Waikato will continue to be the most loved event in our region,... and we wish them all the very best.”
She said it had been an “amazing 20 years” with many highs and challenges.
“Navigating Covid [was] the most challenging of all. We have all felt privileged to be a part of such an important event for the community and loved delivering such a feel-good event.”
She said she hoped under Lightning Events Balloons over Waikato would go back to the days when there were more special shapes and international pilot participation.
Danielle Zollickhofer is a multimedia journalist and assistant news director at the Waikato Herald. She joined NZME in 2021 and is based in Hamilton.
