A four-day balloon festival in the Wairarapa will go ahead in March after consulting with relatives of the 11 people killed in a hot air balloon crash near Carterton.
The annual event will go ahead as planned from March 8 despite the fatal accident on January 7.
Organiser Jonathan Hooker says they had sought opinions from a range of people, including relatives of the crash dead, before deciding to proceed with the 14th staging of the event.
"We have not received any feedback that the festival should not happen," Mr Hooker said.
"The overwhelming opinion of those we consulted was that it should go ahead."
The first event of the festival will be a special tribute flight to honour those killed, the details of which were still being worked through.
Carterton Mayor Ron Mark says the festival will help the community return to normality.
"It is also an opportunity to demonstrate our confidence and respect for our ballooning fraternity and to pay tribute to those involved in the tragedy," Mr Mark said.
Festival flight director Martyn Stacey says the event still has the support of the the ballooning community.
"They want to fly in Wairarapa this year, even those who have not attended the festival before. There is a real feeling of solidarity amongst balloonists everywhere," he said.
More than 30 hot air balloons are due to take part in the festival.
NZN