When the United Way of Greater Cleveland organized Balloonfest in 1986, it was a time of celebration as the event earned Cleveland a Guinness World Record by releasing 1.5 million balloons into the atmosphere. It had also been used as an opener for the subsequent fundraising activity which urged teenagers and children to participate in volunteering activities.
Reports about the event in 1986 generally reported all the minute details they could gather during the event and even included some marginal events that occurred as a result of the balloons. These mishaps happened on the side though, the overall tone for Balloonfest indicated that it was a success.
Years later, in 2011, the same newspaper that reported on the event, The Plain Dealer, wrote a piece celebrating the 25th anniversary of the event, which included some details about it.
Again, they mentioned some of the unexpected consequences that the event caused such as balloons falling on beaches, lakes, and people's properties. But this time, the tone was more negative, though it never used the words "tragic", "tragedy", "disaster", or "failure". The same was true for the 30th anniversary story from The Plain Dealer.
However, in 2018, The Atlantic produced a short documentary titled "The Doomed Cleveland Balloonfest of '86", which Chris Quinn, an editor for The Plain Dealer, speculates might have been the beginning of Balloonfest '86 being thought of as a "disaster".
So, to settle things once and for all, Quinn looks at all the mishaps that happened on the periphery of Balloonfest '86, and defends the initial reporting made on the event, reflecting its success and the general positive attitude people had about it.
(Image credit: fennelmac2611/Reddit)