![Hot air balloons lift off in a mass ascension at Red Rock Park in Gallup Dec. 7, 2019 at the Red Rock Balloon Rally. The balloons are returning this December with the help of the Lodgers’ Tax. Photo Credit: Cable Hoover](/images/resized/images/news/2016/337_sep17/32_100_100.jpg)
Gallup citizens will have something to look forward to in December when the Red Rock Balloon Rally returns for its 40th anniversary on Dec. 3-5.
During the Lodgers’ Tax Committee meeting Aug. 17, one of the event’s founders, Peter Procopio, asked for $35,000 for his event.
Procopio explained that the rally had lost some of its sponsors during the pandemic, including Marathon, which usually donated $30,000 to the event, but suspended operations at its Gallup refinery in April, 2020.
“We’re worried a little bit about other sponsors not [being] able to or willing to participate after a bad year, and we understand that,” Procopio said. “But we’re going try to do our best to...