Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet are the seven colors of the rainbow, and those colors and more will fill the skies in the coming days as 12 hot air balloons are expected to participate in the seventh annual Crown of Maine Balloon Fest.
Presented by KeyBank and hosted by the Presque Isle Area Chamber of Commerce, Balloon Fest will be held Thursday, Aug. 26 and continue through Sunday, Aug. 29 at the Northern Maine Fairgrounds in Presque Isle.
“New this year is the ‘Ride Fly Ride,’” said Derik Smith, Balloon Fest chair. “We’re going to have a 20-mile cycling race Friday night and then Sunday morning, the top two people from the different divisions will fly in a balloon with their bicycles attached to the basket. The pilots will participate in a ‘Hound and Hare’ challenge; one pilot will fly out ahead, find a field, lay down a target and the pilots have to try to fly into that field and throw a beanbag onto the target.
“As soon as the balloons land, the cyclists will take their bikes off the basket and race back to the fairgrounds,” he said, “finding their own way back from the landing site. It should be interesting.”
This year the Presque Isle Lodge of Elks 1954 will host the Street Fair Thursday night from 4-10 p.m. in downtown Presque Isle.
“The Elks have really picked the event up and run with it, which is really nice for us,” said Smith. “One of our objectives is to get as much of the community involved as possible, and it’s great to have one of our community pillars get involved. We already have the Kiwanis doing some things and Rotary has helped out some over the years. The more organizations involved the better and it helps bring home that ‘community feel’ that we’re looking for.”
The Street Fair will feature food, music, a car show, dunking booth, and much more.
Twelve pilots will be attending this year’s festival.
“We have three pilots who will be joining us for the first time, plus I’ll be flying in this year’s festival,” said Smith, who received his private pilot’s license earlier this year. “The pilots come in so early and stay so late that chances are you’ll see balloons as soon as the weather allows during that week and the week after. They want to get as much flying time in as possible because the flying in Aroostook County is absolutely amazing.”
Making a return appearance to the Crown of Maine Balloon Fest this year will be the special shape balloon, Beagle “Max” Maximus.
“We were going to have Oggy the Friendly Dragon, piloted by Ron Martin, but due to a family emergency, Ron won’t be attending,” said Smith. “Max is owned by pilot Kenny Shumate, who participated last year and is coming again this year. Kenny agreed to bring Max with him which we really appreciate.”
Weather pending, Max will fly Saturday morning, and will be inflated for all to see Friday and Saturday evenings. The balloon is 119.7 feet long, 82 feet high, is 45.3 feet wide and weighs 522 pounds. Max can carry two riders plus his owner/pilot.
“The special shape balloon always gets the kids excited. Ballooning is fun as it is, but the special shape one adds an element of fun,” he said. “People loved seeing Max last year. By having it on display, it gives people who don’t necessarily want to chase balloons something to look at, talk about and take pictures of. It also holds the crowd there until we get back for the balloon glow.”
Launches will be held Thursday at 5:30 p.m. with available pilots, as well as Friday and Saturday at both 5:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., and 5:30 a.m. Sunday. There will also be balloon glows on Friday and Saturday nights.
“For a balloon glow, the pilots set up their balloons at dusk. Then they use the burners to illuminate the envelope so it glows … it’s really quite pretty,” said Smith, noting that the brightness of the balloon depends on the color and density of the fabric.
The field will be closed this year to spectators giving the balloons and crew the space they need to prepare for the flights.
“We’re going to have fences up and we’re not going to let people in and mill around the balloons,” Smith said. “We don’t want anyone to get hurt, so people shouldn’t be surprised when they see a fence. There were so many people last year on the field it was hard getting the balloons laid out. We want everyone to be safe and have a good time, and that’s why we’re restricting access.”
The Crown of Maine Balloon Fest has become a major tourist attraction. Smith said people come from all over to see the balloons.
