2 days ago
Hydrofest not returning to Lake Guntersville in 2026
GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — Marshall County Tourism and Sports has announced that Guntersville Lake HydroFest will not continue next year.
Organizers said the decision comes after a decline in local support for the event. MCTS President Katy Norton said that while the event still sees thousands of out-of-state visitors, the event only had a few hundred attendees from Marshall County. MCTS also said that local sponsorships have declined.
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'While we are sad to bring an end to this annual event, we cannot continue to raise the money required to host the races without our local residents and businesses supporting our efforts, both in attendance and by sharing and supporting the event in a positive manner,' Norton said.
MCTS said the event has also consistently brought in $3.5 million in economic impact to Marshall County.
Norton explained that while the economic impact of the event was always high, it just didn't receive consistent enough support locally.
'While the economic impact has stayed very high because the economic impact comes from lodging tax revenue, sales tax revenue from the visitors, the local money that helps support the event through ticket sales and sponsorships has gone down every year,' she said.
Despite those numbers, Daniel Shepard, who attended Hydrofest this year, said the event had fans in Marshall County.
'They may not have been Guntersville locals, but Grant, Albertville, Boaz, you know, the small towns, they were there,' he said.
HydroFest began in 2018 and is the smallest community to host the H1 Unlimited hydroplanes, according to MCTS. The organization said that since then, Guntersville has won the 'Site of the Year' award five times.
'Guntersville Lake HydroFest has drawn international attention to our lake and community over the past seven years,' Norton said. 'We appreciate the sponsors who began this journey with us and have stayed with us since 2018. We also are grateful to our planning committee, all the city departments, county and state agencies who have worked alongside us to bring this event to our community.'
Norton said the event is one of the things that make Guntersville such a unique place to live, and losing it is a hit.
'For us to be the smallest community in the nation to host an event with H-1 Unlimited hydroplane and to have it to go away, you know, it was one of those things that makes us so unique,' she said.
Shepard said with HydroFest gone, he likely won't have an opportunity to have the same experience again.
'I can't drive to Washington and Oregon and all over to see it,' He said. 'I mean, yes, I can watch it on YouTube. But that's not the same as being here, hearing the engines run and spectators and commentators. It's like NASCAR, you know? You go to the race to hear it and feel it, not just see it on a TV screen.'
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