LEWISTON — When it comes to the annual Balloon Festival, you can generally split people into two groups: those who come for the balloons and those who come for everything else.

“I never get tired of watching them go up,” said John Johnson, a 38-year-old Lewiston man who volunteers at the event. “I love it like everybody else. I just never get sick of it.”

At 6 p.m., the hour of the official launch, Johnson was watching the sky. It was getting dark over the Androscoggin River and the wind was picking up. There were a few half-inflated balloons scattered around Simard/Payne Memorial Park but none had risen into the sky.

Very disconcerting, if you happen to be all about the balloons.

Fortunately, there is never any shortage of other things to do while waiting for conditions to improve. Kids bounced in a balloon house. A few scaled a rock-climbing wall. Some people danced, some stuffed their faces, many circled the park and searched for familiar faces.

“I love the social part of it,” said 18-year-old Mike Silva. “The best part is that there’s so much to do. All the vendors, all the food … I love seeing this many people down here. It’s a good time.”

Silva lives in Lewiston. Over the years, he’s seen hundreds of balloons lift off the ground and take to the sky. He enjoys it, he said, but the failure to launch on time Friday didn’t ruin his mood. There was too much else going on, like the music of Terry and the Telstars and later, belly dancers.

Meanwhile, sitting on a bench down by the river, Jan and Bob Adkison had no idea whether they should be disappointed by the delayed liftoff. The couple lives in North Carolina but every summer, they travel to Sabattus to visit. They’ve heard of the balloon festival, they said, but Friday night marked their first stop at the annual event.

“We don’t know what to expect,” Bob said. “It’s just nice to be out in the park. We thought it would be a nice experience.”

No argument there. Thousands — perhaps tens of thousands — were thinking the same thing. They began squeezing into Simard/Payne Park hours before the scheduled lift-off. By 6 p.m., the park was crammed full and more were coming all the time.

Then, at about 7 p.m., the skies grew darker. There was a distant rumble of thunder and bright streaks of lightning. Soon after, it began to rain and thousands of festival revelers scurried for cover. They mostly scurried with good humor. After all, part of the thrill of the event is toughing out bad stretches of weather.

Depending on whom you ask, of course.

“We’ll get there,” Johnson said, still assessing the sky. “Sooner or later.”

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