This year’s Great Mississippi River Balloon Race was awesome. But it could have been better.

With the balloonists and tourists gone, it’s time our community — both sides of it — address an issue that made balloon race less than it could have been this year.

The first half of the name of the race says enough — Great Mississippi River.

This race is special because of the river, but this year that special feature seemed to serve as a line in the sand, not a tie that binds.

Whether the average spectator knew it or not — and we’d argue that far too many did — this year’s race was marred by a feud of sorts that’s not entirely new.

In the eyes of some balloon race organizers in Natchez, the City of Vidalia has increasingly tried to piggyback a free ride on the shoulders of a well-established festival.

Vidalia has added a festival, fairgrounds, music and this year tethered balloon rides. With no admission price, the events are a success.

But if people don’t buy tickets to the gates in Natchez, the balloons won’t be back.

In the eyes of Vidalia organizers, they are simply working hard to promote their own town and offer an alternative form of entertainment on a great weekend. They’d be foolish not to try to attract money and visitors to their city.

Neither side is entirely right, or entirely wrong. But continuing to butt heads over the matter will hurt the balloon race on both sides of the river.

We are now a full year away from our community’s biggest weekend. With a Miss-Lou Regionalism Steering Committee already in place — and mayors of both cities active on the board — we already have the forum to work through this problem.

We urge both mayors to talk this out now — not later — and lead the organizers on both sides of the Great Mississippi River to make sure next year’s balloon race weekend is profitable, fun and bigger and better for everyone involved.