By: Breven Honda
The 2026 calendar gets off to a busy start for Mesquite Entertainment.
Coming off the events from New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, Mesquite Entertainment is hosting its annual Mesquite Motor Mania and Hot Air Balloon Festival.
From Jan. 16-18, the Mesquite Motor Mania will be home to classic cars, featuring car shows and different competitions. In total, there are expected to be several hundred cars on display with all years and different make and models of vehicles.
“We are extremely excited to host this event,” said Michael Klimek, the Director of Brand Strategy of Mesquite Entertainment. “It’s a very high energy, classic car kind of weekend.”
The car show on the first two days of the event runs from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. before the final day running from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The event is free to attend and open to all ages, both kids and adults, making it a family-friendly weekend.
“It’s always a great time to see people of all ages have a great time at our property, allowing them to see the slow drags, the burnouts, all of these, like crazy cars, the fire ups,” Klimek said. “Seeing them very excited to get to witness all of these things is very satisfying for us.”
After the Mesquite Motor Mania wraps up on Jan. 18 at 2 p.m., an awards presentation will take place in the CasaBlanca Grand Ballroom.
There will be more than 250 different awards handed out with some having cash prizes.
Overall, there are $15,000 in cash awards and prizes that will be handed out. The “Best of Show Award” provides the biggest cash value of the night with a winning prize of $3,000.
Some of the other notable awards include the Crowd Pleaser Award and the People’s Choice Award.
On the following weekend, Mesquite Entertainment is hosting its annual Hot Air Balloon Festival from Jan. 23-25.
This is another free event and open to all ages to see the variety of balloons that make their way into the sky.
“We have an action-packed January,” Klimek said. “Our Hot Air Balloon Festival is one of our most popular annual events, with the vibrant colors, all the excitement that we bring to the open sky.”
At 7:30 a.m. on each of the three mornings, the morning launch takes place. Dozens of hot air balloons make their way off the ground. The launch zone is at the Oasis Resort Parking Lot, which is across the street from the CasaBlanca Resort & Casino.
Then in the evening, once the sun goes down, the Hot Air Balloon Festival continues with the Night Glow Candlestick show on the first two days of the event. Taking place at the southwest parking lot at the CasaBlanca Resort & Casino, the balloons light up the night.
However, with both of these events, especially the Hot Air Balloon Festival, safety is a top priority.
“Safety is of the utmost support to us with every event that we do,” Klimek said. “Since this is another event that we do every single year, there are trained professionals on site that own and operate these hot air balloons.”
In addition to safety, the weather also plays a vital role in launching hot air balloons. Whether it is the wind speeds or if precipitation and visibility are forecasted, that also plays a role as to if and when the balloons can go into the air.
