September 30, 2024 by Max Vogel (‘26)
Over the span of four days from September 19-22, the 51st annual running of the Adirondack Hot Air Balloon festival was in high gear! On Thursday to kick off the festival, a live performance from “The Refrigerators” followed by a flight of around 15 balloons energized Crandall Park in Glens Falls. In the following days of the festival, the location was moved to Floyd Bennett Memorial Airport in Glens Falls. A day later, the event was drastically scaled up from the previous day of action with a launch of nearly 70 balloons! Events at the airport included arts, crafts and even more live music and fair games as the evening launch was prepared to set to the sky.
The third and largest day started bright and early in the morning at 5:30, when spectators began entering the airport to see the flight of around 80 balloons. The balloon owners were given a quick debriefing in the staff tent before the green light was given to launch. With nearly cloudless skies and a slight fall breeze from the northeast, Saturday looked very promising for the balloonists. As the balloons were inflated, the crowd favorites quickly were deemed. A penguin named “Tall Steve” and the Tasmanian Devil from Looney Tunes captured the eyes of spectators.
Once all the balloons were set out into the sky for the morning session, the balloons were retrieved and sent back to the airport for the light show in the evening. The light show (formally called a moonglow) consisted of 40 illuminated balloons in a line formation. The moonglow started to wind down at around 8:00PM, which wrapped up the busiest day of the festival. The following and final day of the hot air balloon festival consisted of a craft fair and a launch of yet another 70 balloons! Although Sunday did have a large morning launch, it didn’t have an evening moonglow like Saturday. As the conclusion of the 51st festival neared, over 200 balloons were launched, five bands performed, and thousands of guests attended the event over the course of four days. This festival was a great beginning to fall season in the Adirondack region. The next hot air balloon festival will take place in the fall of 2025 to keep the half century tradition alive.
Learn more about this festival at www.adirondackballoonfest.org.