2015 Lincoln Balloon Festival LINCOLN DAILY NEWS.COM September 1, 2015 Page 35
Friday evening the Lincoln Balloon Festival kicked
off for the first time only as a stand-alone event. For
those who may have wondered if the balloons alone
could bring in a large crowd to the Logan County
Airport, they need wonder no more. It can.
Early in the evening local attorney, and this weekend,
Balloon Festival volunteer, Bill Bates said he was
certain that the crowd arriving at 4 p.m. this year was
much larger than that of last year.
As is always the case, weather dictates just what
events do take place at the airport. This year, high-
velocity winds on the ground for much of the evening
proved to be too much for many of the balloonists. At
the pilot meeting held at 5:30 p.m. it was determined
that it would be unsafe to try and do a lift off, and that
portion of the evening was cancelled immediately.
There was also much concern about whether or not
it would be safe to do a glow. During the pilots
meeting, it was determined that under the current wind
conditions, it would not be safe. However, there was
also discussion of a possible settling on the wind near
dark. Pilots were told that the decision was their own
as to whether or not they would attempt a glow event.
The balloons that are flown during this event cost
thousands of dollars to purchase, and a good deal of
money to maintain, and even more if one had to be
repaired due to damage. Many of the pilots decided
that it was not worth the risk to stay and glow.
At the end of the evening, three balloons did choose
to give it a try. While the show lasted only a few
minutes, the crowd who had stayed throughout the
evening hoping to see a show were happy with what
was presented. They showed their gratitude to Seth
Goodman, Jim Phelan, and Ryan Carlton for sticking
it out and waiting for the wind to die down, if only for
a few minutes.
As the crowd clapped and cheered, the three balloons
did a series of "flicker" and "all glow" shows at the
request of event emcee Cameron Kurtz.
In addition to troubles for the balloonists, there were
also no tethered rides for most of the evening. The
tethered balloon inflated but soon had to deflate. Later
it tried again, and this time was able to stay inflated for
a short period.
This year there were more events going on at the
airport, and while guests may have been disappointed
to miss out on seeing the balloons in the sky, that did
not drive many of them away.
With live music, inflatable games, an exotic petting
zoo, several craft vendors, and a huge selection of
food vendors, many stayed and enjoyed the evening
and took advantage of all the other offerings at this
year's event.
[Nila Smith]
High winds don’t dampen the spirits at the
Lincoln Balloon Festival on Friday night
