Muskingum County Tourism Development Grants help fund three local events
ZANESVILLE, Ohio – Muskingum County Welcome Center hosted a casual ceremony for three local organizations that were awarded the Muskingum County Tourism Development Grant.
The grant program invests in projects and experiences designed to attract visitors, encourage overnight stays, and strengthen the county’s tourism economy. Mark Goodall and Sally Luburgh, from the Artist Colony of Zanesville, say the money will go towards the Y-Bridge Festival.
“Well we appreciate the partnership with Visit Zanesville and we’re using this opportunity to expand our marketing for the Y-Bridge Arts Festival,” said Goodall.
The Y-Bridge Arts Festival is this Friday and Saturday and you can learn more about the event by visiting ArtCoZ.org. Luburgh shares what she is looking forward to most during this event.
“I’m looking forward to seeing what everybody else is doing. I’m going to be there with my weaving and I’m really excited to see what everybody else is doing. You get so much energy and information from the other artists. ”
Joe and Angela Bailey are two of the four owners of Taste of Ohio Wine Bourbon and Beer, where they hope to host a music festival.
“So it’s going to a music festival that we’re going to have here in Zanesville at Taste of Ohio Wine Bourbon and Beer. We will have, hopefully, five different bands to come in, put on a show for the community. So, and this money is going to help to fund that,” Joe said.
“This event will take place on October 17. It will be in the afternoon. We’ll publish the times later once we get the bands lined up and have the order in which they’re playing,” Angela said.
Tessa Pratt-Smith is the managing owner of the newly founded Bright Spot Campground and Marina. She couldn’t attend Thursday’s ceremony, so WHIZ reached out to Pratt-Smith over the phone to learn how she plans to use the grant funds.
“So for this grant we are planning to close out our first camping season with a Halloween event. And this would be in October and in addition to bringing in tourism from outside the area, we also want to engage the local community,” Pratt-Smith said.
Pratt-Smith says the event will feature local live music, arts and crafts, and highlight local vendors.
This round of Muskingum County Tourism Development Grants totaled $3,500 that will help fund community events. According to Kaitlynne Miller, the marketing specialist for Visit Zanesville, the next round of grants will be made open for applications in the fall.
