Press Release

Shawnee Annual Balloon Festival Moves to
Shawnee Mountain

Shawnee on Delaware, PA. - The management of the Shawnee Inn and Golf Resort and Shawnee Mountain have reached an agreement to move the annual Balloon Festival to the grounds of the Shawnee Mountain beginning with the 2006 festival. The dates for the 22nd annual event will be October 13th, 14th and 15th of 2006.

“We are excited about hosting this greatly anticipated fall event and will do everything to ensure its continued success,” said Jim Tust, Administrative Manager for Shawnee Mountain. In fact, to assist in the success of the event, Shawnee Mountain has decided to combine the Lumberjack Festival normally held on Columbus Day Weekend and the Balloon Festival into a single, mega event. “This combines the success and non stop entertainment of the Lumberjack Festival with the notoriety and success of the Shawnee Balloon Festival,” stated Jim Tust, “it certain to be a more robust family friendly event with the combination of the two.” Now that the events will be combined a new name for the event had to be chosen. It was a difficult proposition to come up with a new name and to capture the essence of both events in that name. The consensus was to call the festival The Shawnee Autumn Timber and Tether Festival.

The decision to move the festival was a difficult one for the ownership and management of the Shawnee Inn and Golf Resort, but a wise move for the future of the resort. “We are embarking on a new vision for the Shawnee Inn and Golf Resort and the Balloon Festival no longer matches where the resort is headed in the future,” said manager Rob Way, “the set-up of the festival demanded a lot of time and energy on the staff as well as a significant amount of wear and tear on the golf course and other portions of our facility.”

Shawnee Mountain is excited to be the new home. “Our grounds are more geared toward festivals and events and we have been successfully running the Lumberjack Festival, Rodeo and other events for many years,” said Nick Fredericks, President and CEO of Shawnee Mountain, “we have tremendous space, ample facilities and the special event experience.”