LEWISTON — The Liberty Festival is reaching out to lend a helping hand to next month’s Great Falls Balloon Festival.
On Friday night, the Liberty Festival will host The Fuse to raise money for itself and the troubled balloon festival, which is attempting to raise thousands of dollars to replace 26,000 feet of heavy-duty copper power cords stolen from a storage trailer in Auburn last winter.
Liberty Festival President Cathy McDonald describes The Fuse as “an outdoor street dance or park dance.”
The two festivals will split the proceeds.
“We’re trying to raise money for the Liberty Festival, but more important we’re trying to raise money to help save the balloon festival,” McDonald said.
The Fuse will be held at Veterans Memorial Park in Lewiston from 7:30 to 11 p.m. Popular local bands The Veggies and Cold Blue Steel will perform. Tickets are $10 in advance at the Franco Center and $12 the day of the show.
The American Legion will set up a cash bar and a couple of food trucks will be available.
When the theft was discovered in early April, balloon festival organizers estimated the replacement cost for the equipment at between $40,000 and $50,000, a prohibitive amount for a small nonprofit volunteer organization.
Balloon festival treasurer Mell Hamlyn said the group is still a few thousand dollars short of their fundraising goal, but she remains optimistic.
“We will have the balloon festival one way or the other,” Hamlyn said.
The GoFundMe page has only raised $1,911 to date, but Hamlyn said the group has received money from several additional organizations and individuals not listed on that page.
Harold Brooks, the head of logistics for the balloon festival, said he has already purchased a small amount of wire and Hamlyn added that some electricians have also donated wire.
“We are progressing,” Brooks said.
Helping the balloon festival is the construction of an amphitheater at Simard-Payne Memorial Park, Hamlyn said. That change will place vendors in a more compact area, requiring fewer feet of power cords for electricity.
ssherlock@sunjournal.com
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