TEMECULA, CA — The Riverside County supervisors will decide Tuesday whether to terminate a contract with the new organizers of the Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival. This would end the possibility of the festival being held at Lake Skinner in Winchester in 2026, which raises questions about the festival’s future.
“Termination will result in the immediate return of the Lake Skinner Recreation Area to public use during the annual dates previously reserved for the Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival,” according to a county Regional Parks & Open Space District statement posted to the Board of Supervisors’ agenda for Tuesday.
In 2025, Events.com announced its acquisition of the Balloon and Wine Festival as part of its ongoing expansion into the Southern California market, and Executive Producer Paul Thornton of Tag Presents was brought in to modernize the experience and attract top-tier talent. The festival switched to an all-country lineup and was delayed from its typical early June opening date. There has been no mention of restarting the event in 2026.
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Calls to the festival offices, the Events.com publicity office and emails to Events.com, which purchased the festival in 2025, and Thornton went unanswered.
“Local vendors and businesses that were scheduled to provide services at the festival may experience a loss of anticipated revenue,” the Regional Parks & Open Space District stated. “The cancellation may reduce the number of visitors to the immediate area, impacting nearby retail and hospitality establishments that rely on event-driven tourism and foot traffic.”
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Events.com shared online that for the past 42 years, traffic to Lake Skinner has grown for the annual event infuses the local economy with over $1.5 million. The festival was also known for donating to community organizations, offering volunteer hours, providing scholarships for scholars, and supporting local military groups. It was not currently known if those donations occurred in 2025.
How it started:
The long-running Balloon and Wine Festival event was first held in 1983 on a strip of land near the intersection of Rancho Vista and Margarita Roads, before Ronald Reagan Sports Park was even opened.
That event featured hot air balloons, wine, and cheese as well as minimal stage performances to entertain the crowds, typically in the last weekend of May or the first weekend of June. Since then, it has grown into a massive event, drawing up to 30,000 people annually to the Lake Skinner Recreation Area in Winchester.
Events.com took over the annual festival in March of 2025, introducing many changes, including the absence of a morning hot-air balloon launch, in an attempt to put their own stamp on the event focused more on country music. Stephen Partridge, President of Events.com, discussed the upcoming festival with Patch at that time.
“The Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival is one of the region’s longest-running festivals and has been a longstanding cornerstone of Southern California’s vibrant cultural landscape,” he said. “We couldn’t be more thrilled to be a part of its continued growth.”
Paul Thornton, named Executive Producer of the Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival as well as Executive Producer of San Diego’s Wonderfest, said working with Events.com would “help preserve the festival’s rich history while introducing modern features that will elevate the event for future generations, expand the talent lineup, bringing in top-tier artists year over year, and ensure that the festival continues to grow and evolve.”
Instead, that growth appears to have stunted in the Temecula summer heat.
How It’s Going:
Thus far in 2026, there have been no announcements about a festival or a contingency plan to relocate the Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival. The website and Facebook pages are quiet, and have been since August of 2025.
In previous years, festival schedules were generally known by early spring. The weekend-long events have traditionally been announced by March, with information on camping, lineups, and festival ticket purchases by April. The scheduled date for the weekend festival is typically in May or June for the event that has a pre-approved multi-year agreement with festival organizers for use of the Lake Skinner site until June 30, 2027.
But last August, a Riverside County Parks Department invoice to the TVBWF Association President, Scott Soares, seeking $73,883 for the use of the county-owned space during the 2025 fest went unpaid.
The Executive Office said past-due invoices were then submitted on Oct. 17 and Nov. 2, but there was no response. A final invoice was sent on March 24, showing interest and penalties. The total now owed to the Riverside County Parks Department is $76,100.
“In addition to the outstanding balance due to the district, the county is aware of outstanding balances for separate service agreements related to the festival, including but not limited to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, fire and several other service providers,” according to the Regional Parks & Open Space District. “Those providers are also attempting to recover the costs incurred for the 2025 event.”
The aggregate amount in arrears was not immediately available.
If the board votes in favor of termination, the current facilities contract with the festival, and its new owners, Events.com, will formally end on April 30.
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