Tourism Board Awards $29,000 in Grants for Fall Events

The Fallon Convention and Tourism Authority awarded $29,000 in grants at its recent meeting to organizers of several local events slated for this autumn.

The largest funding grant was awarded to the Fallon Cantaloupe Festival & Country Fair for $15,000. Organizers estimate that 18,000 unique visitors will attend this year, with 18% coming from out of town, and hope to fully book all 531 hotel rooms in Fallon, as they did last year, according to the grant application.

An economic impact assessment report about last year's festival was presented to the tourism board at its Apr. 15 meeting. The University of Nevada, Reno's College of Business analyzed data from the previous year and compiled the report. Fred Steinmann, the Director of the Center for Economic Development at UNR, presented the report. Some of the figures include:

• 11,484 unique attendees
• $9.2 million in total visitor spending
• Attendees came from 31 states other than Nevada
• Average length of stay was 3.75 days
• Food and beverage spending at the fair was $775,000
• Retail shopping at the fair and Fallon area totaled $866,000
• $1.1 million spent on fuel and transportation
• Churchill County's direct economic impact was $4.8 million
• Local region's direct economic impact was $5.9 million

"We have never been able to break down not only the overall economic impact, but all those specific categories," said Tourism Director Jane Moon, noting those were good numbers to see for the event.

Adrienne Snow, executive director of the Cantaloupe Festival, said she plans to use the grant money to help advertise special festival events that benefit local nonprofit organizations. For example, 100% of the proceeds from the cornhole tournament benefit the Churchill Community Hospital Foundation, and profits from the Cantaloupe Canter 5K will help the Fallon Theatre.

The Fallon Junior Rodeo was awarded a grant of $3,000 for their annual Labor Day event. The event, produced by Jennifur and Travis Peek, will take place from Aug. 29 to Sept. 1 at the 3C Event Complex. Organizers anticipate that 200-300 participants and their families will attend the four-day event, creating a need for approximately 150 hotel room nights. The event also received $1,307.49 from the county in July.

The No Hill Hundred Century Bike Tour will be held Oct. 4, sending bicyclists across the county for a 60 or 100-mile tour. The event, organized by Churchill County Parks and Recreation, attracts 150-200 riders, with 75% coming from outside Fallon. Organizers estimate that they will fill 62 hotel rooms for one night. The bike tour was awarded a $2,000 grant.

The final grant of $9,000 was awarded to Back Roads Vintage Market for the Fallon 2025 and Spring 2026 markets, held on October 10-11, 2025, and May 8-9, 2026. Organizers Jenny and Mitch Young hope to increase the number of attendees this year to 3,000, a 400-600 increase from prior events, by boosting their advertising budget. 

The bi-annual antique market expects to draw 500 visitors from outside a 60-mile radius to Fallon, and to fill 70 hotel rooms for one night. They listed a long-term goal of partnering with other organizers to host complementary events, such as an Oktoberfest.