01/24/2025
The Town of Pinetop-Lakeside is excited to announce a change in focus for its signature summer event, the White Mountains Balloon Festival. Beginning this year, the event now will be known as “Pinetop-Lakeside Summer Nights” and will place a larger emphasis on live music, food and retail vendors, and family fun. Pinetop-Lakeside Summer Nights will be June 20 and 21, 2025, at Mountain Meadow Recreation Complex.
“We are excited to pivot from the balloon festival to a music- and food-focused event for the entire family,” said Pinetop-Lakeside Mayor Stephanie Irwin. “The event will now be two days and will feature more bands, more food and retail vendors, a beer garden, and we plan to still include evening balloon activities.
“The biggest change with the event is the elimination of morning balloon flights. With the extremely dry conditions and the strong possibility of a forest closure that would prevent balloons from flying anyway, we think this is the right time to pivot to a new focus.”
Mayor Irwin emphasized that the evening portion of the event will be very much as it has been in previous years, but with even more bands and vendors. For more information on Summer Nights,
contact Community Services Director Tony Alba at 928-368-8696, ext. 240.
