Several hot-air balloons fill the skies Sunday morning during the final flight of the fourth annual Rise Up Hot Air Balloon Festival.--NEWS PHOTO BRENDAN MILLER
bmiller@medicinehatnews.com
Photos of bright colourful hot-air balloons soaring over the blue skies of the Hat flooded posts in a variety of local social media groups across all platforms, earning more than 1.5 million views, according to festival organizers.
The fourth annual Rise Up Hot Air Balloon Festival wrapped up Sunday morning after three successful early morning flights and one Balloon Glow and candlestick event.
This year, Hatters were treated to three morning flights that featured at least 20 hot air balloons simultaneously lifting off from four separate locations around the city, filling the skies with large floating balloons, seemingly suspended amid the clear blue.
“That was a million-dollar backdrop,” says Willy Taillon, Festival co-organizer and balloon pilot. “The whole community got behind it, and the pilots felt the love. … For those pilots to experience how nice Hatters are is great to hear.”
Some pilots even showed off their expert skills. On rare occasions a hot-air balloon could be seen landing in a lake or river for a brief period of time, skimming along the surface and then taking off again.
“We call it a ‘Splash and Dash’ in the ballooning world,” explains Taillon. “Totally safe and pilots love it if they get the opportunity to dip their wicker basket, and it actually moistens the wicker.”
Taillon credits the dedicated work of the more than 230 volunteers who contributed weekends and multiple shifts that allowed the festival to launch multiple balloons at the same time.
Typically, each balloon requires four or five people to assist during a launch. Additionally the festival needed volunteers willing to set up and take down the launch sites each day.
“They were committed to helping the entire time the festival was going on,” said Taillon. “Once we calculate the (number of volunteer) hours, it’s going to be mind blowing. That’s a huge accomplishment on behalf of the planning team.”
There were also plenty of activities at ground level.
Saturday the festival held its free Community Day that featured several events downtown, including the Hues for Humanity Colour Run, Rise Up Market, Art Party, as well as food trucks and free movies at the Monarch.
On Sunday volunteers and pilots were treated to a barbecue lunch at Kin Coulee Park that included a walk through the park to pick up any trash.
“We wanted to leave it like we found it, or better,” said Taillon.
This year the festival included a live-streaming of each pilot’s safety meeting before each scheduled flight, providing an inside look as the festival’s Balloon Meister and pilots reviewed in-depth aviation weather and assessed flight conditions.
“This is all run by volunteers and they all work full time, hats off to them. They put in all that extra time over the last eight months … It might seem like chaos, but it’s organized chaos, because it takes an army of volunteers to help put these balloons up,” added Taillon.
