A huge thanks to the many Balloon Festival volunteers and liaisons. Board of Directors President: Rick O’Brien Vice President: Mickey Reeder Treasurer: Mell Hamlyn Secretary: Morgan Hamlyn Balloonmeister: Mickey Reeder Directors: Harold Brooks, Logistics Kelly MacKinnon, Food Geoff Ness, Website/Volunteer Coordinator Walter Hill, Craft & Trade Nick Knowlton, Entertainment Christina Noonan, Marketing and Media Sponsorship […]

The best way to experience the Festival is in a hot air balloon! Advanced reservations for rides are recommended, and are available for $200 per person until Monday, August 15 at 5 p.m. Rides are scheduled for the evening launch on Friday, and both morning and evening on Saturday and Sunday. Flights are usually available […]

The Festival board of directors is once again asking to see the Festival from your perspective: from the ground, from the air, down on the water. Enter your photo(s) in this year’s photo contest for a chance to win a cash prize! Official Rules: • Only non-professional photographers may enter • Two categories will be […]

BALLOON LAUNCHES The best times for balloon launches are 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Times may vary depending on weather conditions. Moon glows (hot air balloons tethered and lit up with propane) will be displayed in the evening, following the 6 p.m. launch. CLOUDHOPPERS This year, the Festival will welcome cloudhoppers: one-person, experimental balloons. Look […]

SAFETY Smoking: Due to the fire hazard created by the use of propane gas and the risk of damage to the balloon envelopes, smoking is prohibited on festival grounds. Pets: Pets are not allowed on festival grounds with the exception of service animals. Bikes, skates and boards: Because of the high level of foot traffic […]

Parking for the Festival is available at the Lincoln Street garage, the Chestnut Street garage, and two parking lots along Lincoln Street. The nonprofit groups stationed at these lots welcome your donations. Handicap parking is available inside the main entrance to the park.

Rotary Duck Race sponsored by the Auburn-Lewiston Breakfast Rotary Club: The annual Great Rubber Ducky Race will be held again this year at noon on Sunday. Volunteers will be on hand all weekend at the Festival to sell numbered duckies. The ducks will be dumped into the canal from Union Water Power Station and will float […]

Sunday, August 19, 2012 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at Simard-Payne Memorial Park Family Fun Day is back for the third year with activities for all ages! Fun Run for ages 4-12 (register on our website: greatfallsballoonfestival.org) Hot air balloon tethering Miniature pony rides MadScience.org demo booth Party Palooga: Roaming face painters and balloon twisters T-shirt painting […]

The Great Falls Balloon Festival is proud to welcome Jonathan Edwards to the stage at Simard-Payne Memorial Park on Friday, August 17 at 9 p.m. Warm as summer sunshine, real as the truth, intimate as a long-overdue visit between old friends … such is a Jonathan Edwards concert. Four decades into a stellar career of […]