Hot Air Balloon Festival Kicks Off in Bayfront Park

Northlanders Experience Tethered Rides, Aviation Throwback

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Bayfront Park has been taken over by nearly a dozen, colorful hot air balloons!

Friday through Sunday, the public is welcome to check out the balloons and, weather permitting, take a ride in a tethered balloon that pilots say is an experience that takes you back.

“It’s the first way that people left earth using hot air balloons and gas balloons back in the late 1700s, so it’s kind of a throwback to a very old type of aviation,” said Ed Chapman with Balloon Essentials Unlimited.

They add that the tethered rides offer an experience very close to the real thing.

“Especially for those first 15, 20 seconds,” Chapman added. “It feels as though you’re taking off and you’re going to wind up in someplace else.”

Along with food vendors and live music, this year’s festival will also offer a 5K color run and a craft brew village.