On Sunday we picked up Samantha and Hailey and set off to Statesville, NC to watch the Hot Air Balloon Festival. The girls had never even seen a hot air balloon in the air let alone the sights to behold. We arrived amidst a lot of other traffic and surprisingly found a decent parking space in the fields of the Statesville Regional Airport. Admission was cheap ($10 adults) and nothing for the girls. With chairs and blankets in tow ... (it was only about 56 and partly sunny) we found a place to sit on the crest of the hill and the girls headed for the jump n plays. Samantha understands standing in line but Hailey didn't so we kept having to convince her. Especially after having such free access to the jump n plays down the road from us.

After finding some food (EXPENSIVE) we delighted in gyros, corndogs, sausage, french fries and funnel cake. (So good they were liking the powdered sugar off their hands and the plate!) we more or less settled in to watch the balloons start to fill up ... not only in the open field in front of us but all around us ... wherever we turned. They would fill one -- get it off -- and someone else would move in and start filling their's.

The girls had a fun day watching the balloons and using Grampa for a horse amongst other things and making several trips to the jump and plays. Certainly a better success than our trip to the Corn Maize where we wimped out!

Carolina BalloonFest 36!
Friday, Saturday & Sunday
October 23 - 25, 2009

Rain or Shine!
HOT AIR BALLOON FESTIVAL & more

50 Hot Air Balloons • Mass Ascensions • Balloon Glow Sanctioned Competition • Hot Air Balloon Rides Live Main Stage Entertainment • North Carolina Wine Tasting All-Day Festival • Marketplace • Kid's Fun Zone Artisan Village Fine Arts & Crafts • Eat Street's Great Food

In 1965, Ed Yost with Raven Industries in partnership with the US Air Force, began the development of modern hot air ballooning. With the assistance of Don Piccard and Tracy Barnes, hot air balloon designs were standardized for Federal Aviation Administration certification. This marked the beginning of the hot air balloon industry in the United States.

In 1973, Tracy Barnes formed The Balloon Works right here in Statesville, North Carolina to manufacture and sell hot air balloons. The Balloon Works entry into ballooning with safe and affordable sport balloons helped to ignite the market for hot air ballooning in the United States.

The National Balloon Rally got its start in 1974 at Aerial Ascensions, a flight instruction and corporate balloon company in north Statesville owned by Bill Meadows. As one of the Balloon Works’ first dealers, Meadows invited Balloon Works’ customers from across the US to come to
Statesville for a week of camping, flying and telling ballooning tales.

The Rally moved to The Balloon Works facility near Love Valley, NC in 1978, where it was an informal, week-long gathering of hot air balloon enthusiasts and local spectators. The Rally quickly outgrew that location.

In 1982, Statesville Flying Service, The Balloon Works and the Greater Statesville Chamber of Commerce combined forces to bring the Rally to the Statesville Airport. The National Balloon Rally—the second oldest balloon rally in the nation— became one of the largest, most successful hot air balloon events in United States hosting 160 hot air balloons and up to 80,000 spectators.

In 1996, the Rally relocated to the Iredell County Fairgrounds in Troutman, NC where it continued until 2006 when it was moved back to the newly-expanded Statesville Regional Airport.

Today, the spectacular event continues to amaze and delight tens of thousands of spectators annually with a full weekend of mass ascensions, sanctioned contest, balloon glow, live entertainment, arts & crafts, exhibits and great food!

We look forward to seeing you!