Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – There was a buzz – and several hot air balloons – in the air recently as the Star City hosted the fifth annual Crown of Maine Balloon Fest.
According to committee chair Derik Smith, this year’s festival, presented by KeyBank, was a huge success.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
PILOT BOB BUSH of Tallahassee, Fla. and his hot air balloon, “Magic Carpet,” were among the 15 balloons that flew during the fifth annual Crown of Maine Balloon Fest, which was held Aug. 21-24 in Presque Isle. Bush has been ballooning for 23 years, and says that some of his most memorable flights have been over the vineyards of France, Niagra Falls and the mountains of Vermont. For more on this year’s Balloon Fest, please turn to page 14.
“Things went very, very well,” he said. “We had 14 pilots with 15 different envelopes, and Dena Winslow, a local pilot, also flew. Last year we had 12 official pilots, so it’s growing every year.”
The festival was from Aug. 21-24.
“We had five official launches, and one unofficial one Thursday morning,” said Smith. “The majority of the pilots flew Thursday night, Friday morning and Friday night, and Saturday morning and Saturday night. With gusting winds, no one flew Sunday morning, which was the last scheduled launch. We had five out of six official launches, so we’re very happy when you consider that Quebec recently celebrated its 400th anniversary and had around 100 balloons, and they only flew once out of nine scheduled launches. It all depends on the weather, so you just never know.”
Inclement weather last year kept balloons from flying at all during the actual festival.
Smith said the committee hopes to keep the festival about the same size next year.
“We need to have a lot more people crew if we’re going to have more balloons,” he said. “You need to have an average of three or four people per balloon. I think we gained some this year, so hopefully those people will come back next year.
“We don’t want to get greedy and start trying to get too much money out of the community,” said Smith. “We want to have a few good years and then ease into the growth. Plus we’re reaching capacity on that field. I don’t know how many more balloons we can launch at the same time on that field.”
Should the festival grow to have significantly more balloons, Smith said the committee would have to consider having multiple launch sites.
Smith said while busy overseeing the balloon launches, he did get to see the hustle and bustle that occurred in town during the festival.
“The Street Fest seems to have been a rousing success,” he said. “Attendance was very good, and from what I’ve heard, everyone’s happy. It may need a little tweaking as does any new event, but all in all I think it went very well.
“We had a really good weekend a couple years ago and had lots of launches and it was nice,” said Smith, “but I think the thing that made this year’s festival really successful was the community. We went out to the community and asked them to help fill our schedule, and they came up with a lot of interesting events. People came forward with lots to do and I think it turned out well. It makes you feel good to know that a community this size can come together like that. It was great to see.”
Smith said two young ladies drove up from Boston just to ride in a hot air balloon.
“They saw it on the Web site that they could go for a ride for $180 each and they drove all the way up,” he said. “They actually went up Thursday night and had a great time. We also had a couple from Cape Cod who came last year and this year they were here for us. There was another couple from Wisconsin that were coming to Maine for their vacation and they made sure this was part of their vacation.
“It’s part of our objective to bring people from outside to eat in the restaurants, visit the shops and stay in our hotels,” said Smith. “We’re doing our part to help with tourism.”
Next year’s Crown of Maine Balloon Fest is scheduled for Aug. 27-30.
