The bluff city balloon jamboree

Don't waste your money! (15 November 2022)

This is in response to the 2022 Collierville, TN jamboree hosted by Skip & Toni Durham. The social media campaign was amazing. I saw many gorgeous photos of beautiful balloons in the air, but realized, after the purchase, that all balloons would be tethered to the ground. The website mentioned 20+ balloons, but I do not think there were that many in attendance. The Facebook page stated the gates opened at 4pm. We drove by the event and nothing was happening. Nothing more. Upon review of the Facebook page, I saw the gate opening was rescheduled for 7pm. I was not informed that parking would be in a unmown field. With back issues, I am unable to walk far distances on uneven ground without resting. Especially in the dark through a field. I did not see anywhere to sit other than the VIP tent. There was no evidence of a carnival. I understood there would be food vendors. I saw 2 trucks that looked more like sweet treat vendors instead of food. There was supposed to be a sunrise balloon flight but the people that went, saw nothing. There were no flights or pilots in attendance. We drove 3 hours round-trip and spent $75 on a hotel room specifically for this event. We also missed an important family event (which wasn't announced until after we purchased tickets) for this. I simply do not feel we were going to get the experience we paid for and the planning of the event was not well rehearsed. I reached out on the Facebook page re: requesting a refund and rec'd a response from Toni Durham. She said she had nothing to do with the jamboree, only the balloons. ???? I reached out to Skip Durham who was over the jamboree and received nothing but snarky comments from him. I never received a refund and would strongly suggest you do not attend this event in the future.

Review by M Smith