ILLINOISouth Tourism creates bracket contest for space occasions, locations

SWANSEA, Illinois (WTWO / WAWV) – ILLINOISouth Tourism is comprised of 22 counties in southern Illinois featuring a variety of different events that people have come to know and love. From the Centralia Balloon Fest to the Du Quoin State Fair to Art on the Square in Belleville and the White Squirrel Count in Olney, there are so many unique events for people to experience.

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To ensure these events are always up to date during the pandemic, ILLINOISouth Tourism launched its Bracket Challenge Events Edition in March. The Bracket Challenge features 26 different events in ILLINOISouth’s territory – and encourages people to vote for their favorite events. You can find the challenge at ILLINOISouth’s Facebook pageand the overall winner will receive a free feature video produced about their event.

“It’s obvious how important these events are not only to the local communities, but also to the people from other states who travel to our area for these amazing gatherings,” said Andy Waterman, ILLINOISouth Tourism Director. “In the past two weeks, our bracket challenge has reached over 105,000 people on social media. That has resulted in well over 15,000 votes for local events so far, ”adds Waterman.

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Many events listed as part of the Bracket Challenge plan to congregate in the fall or winter – which is a welcome sight compared to a year ago this time. However, if an event decides to cancel this year, they will not be excluded from the ILLINOISouth competition, according to Waterman.

“We have not used data in any of our contributions to these events because we know how difficult it is now,” says Waterman. “The main point of this bracket challenge is to celebrate the multitude of events that we have. The best thing we’ve seen in polls are comments saying they didn’t know some of these events existed – and now they’re going to review them. That’s the best thing for us, ”adds Waterman.