Longview news diary and sports
Longview is actually a city spread between Harrison County and Gregg County in Texas. This city is considered to be the commercial hub for the Longview Metropolitan Statistical Area and it is one of its principle cities. Having a population of around 77,000 people, Longview features a majority population led by Whites, Hispanics, Native Americans, African Americans, Pacific Islanders and Asians respectively.
The Longview sports scene is quite different and unconventional. Apart from the regular college sports of football, volleyball, Baseball, golf, softball, soccer as well as other fatihfatih varsity games, they host several yearly events that vary from boat races, balloon races, motorcycle rallies, athletic events. Each one of these events take place throughout the year and celebrate some aspect of sports combined with their culture.
From the month of January the East Texas Boat, RV and Camping Expo occurs. This 3 day event is held around the last week of January every year. The foundation of the event was laid by the people who own Longview Marines, Gene Brady and Dale Clark and has been active since 1982. This expo brings RVs, yachts, boats and motorcycles, ATVs from all across East Texas under one roof drawing almost over 10,000 attendees each year.
Another significant attraction in this area is the Annual Memorial Day Motorcycle rally. This rally brings individual bikers and motorcycle riders and such clubs coming from all over Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. This event began in 2006 and has been a major attraction in this region. The big event includes numerous bike games, a bikers show, music and parades and the big attraction known as the Teresi Dyno-Drag. During this interactive event, bikers test their abilities in racing and find out how quickly they can really go in a quarter mile stretch.
One of the most exciting festivals that occur in Longview would be the Alley Fest that is held in the onset of summer. This fest began in 1978 and hosts an art show, a music festival, a food contest as well as a marathon run that is a 1 mile, 5K and 10K course. The latest introduction to the fest is the Kids Marathon run where children between the ages of 5 to 12 take part in a 25.2 miles run.
The most famous amongst all these could be the Great Texas Balloon race that is held in the month of July every year at the East Texas Regional Airport. This event is considered as the “longest running hot-air balloon race in Texas”. This race began in 1978 during the launch of the Longview Mall as a giant celebration. It carried on thereafter and it has grown into a competitive event of first class standards. This event is said to attract world class hot air balloon pilots from all across the world and comprises of balloon fights and balloon glows. An added attraction of this event is to see how these balloons get inflated and operated. It is an event which is held in association with the North American Balloon Association and invites eighty special sport balloons.
The Longview News Journal is the major newspaper publication in this area and dates back to 187. This publication carries all of the local news, sports and community information.