In On the Record, the magazine’s reader-response column, tour planners answer this question: “How have you successfully integrated special events into your tours? What big national events, city festivals or small-town fairs have captivated your groups?”
Dawn Dornes, of Elite Coach in Ephrata, Pa., says she has had good luck with the Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C., Azalea Festival and International Tattoo in Norfolk, Tulip Time Festival in Pella, Iowa, and the ICE event at Gaylord National Resort in Maryland. She looks forward to the Star-Spangled Sailabration this June in Baltimore. Other readers mentioned festivals ranging from Quebec Carnival and the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta to German Fest in Milwaukee and Tall Stacks in Cincinnati.