The Adirondack Balloon Festival
The Adirondack Balloon Festival returns to Warren County for its 51st annual event.
QUEENSBURY
This year’s celebration of hot-air ballooning, set for Thursday Sept. 19 through Sunday Sept. 22, features seven balloons shipped from Europe — a novel aspect of this year's festival.
Andrew Holly of Sky Safari based in Gloucester, England will be flying seven specially shaped balloons shipped from Europe, including a peacock-shaped one, Mark Donohue said in a prepared statement. The special balloons will also include one created to depict a baby dinosaur breaking through its shell.
“We hope to keep the excitement of our 50th anniversary going with nine special shapes this year,” he said, noting that several of the balloons will be taking flight for the first time in the U.S.
The Adirondack Balloon Festival is known internationally as the only large-scale ballooning event where spectators can not only see dozens of colorful balloons take flight, but also get close enough the the balloons to help a pilot and crew launch their craft.
There is no admission fee to the Adirondack Balloon Festival, which has charmed generations of people from across the nation and attracted balloon enthusiasts from around the world.
Considered the largest balloon festival in the eastern U.S., this year’s festival will feature 80-plus balloons ascending into the skies.
The festival kicks off at 4 p.m. Thursday Sept. 19 in Glens Falls’ Crandall Park with music performed by the Jonathan Newell Band, and opening ceremonies occurring at 5 p.m. complete with food vendors and children’s activities on site and liftoff of 15 or more balloons thereafter.
From 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursday, the New York Players will be providing live music. An initial "Moonglow" event, with internally-lit balloons lighting up the after-dusk skies, is to begin at 7:45 p.m.
On Friday Sept. 20 beginning at 3 p.m., the festival moves to Warren County’s Floyd Bennett Memorial Airport in Queensbury, where it will be held through Sunday. This second day of the festival features the annual Zonta Craft Fair with 50-plus vendors, children’s activities, and food concessions.
The E-Block musical group is to perform from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. while as many as 70 balloons are to take flight from 5 p.m. to 6:15 p.m.
On Saturday Sept. 21, the festival reopens at 5 a.m. with the craft fair, children’s activities, and balloons taking flight from 6:30 to 7:30 a.m. with the ascension of up to 50 balloons while the children’s activities and craft fair resume.
Various musical groups are to perform at two-hour invalids during the day.
From 5 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. Saturday, the fest shifts back into high gear with the flight of up to 50 balloons, including many with special shapes.
At 7:45 p.m. the festival's main Moonglow event is to take place, with 30 to 40 balloons lighting up the dark sky and the British ‘Sky Safari’ balloons gyrating to music.
The fest resumes Sunday Sept. 22 at at 5 a.m. with food vendors open for breakfast, as well as the craft fair and children’s activities. The flight of up to 80 balloons, including those with special shapes, is scheduled to occur at 6:30 a.m. in honor of the late Walter Grishkot, the festival’s founder.
The festival concludes at 10 a.m.
All activities are weather-dependent, as balloons do not take flight in windy or rainy weather. Dogs and smoking are not allowed on the festival sites, and neither are drones nor remote-controlled aircraft.
