Friendly & informative staff! Will definitely go again! Was neat seeing all the different balloons. We did the tethered ride. Ready to do the full ride next time read more

Sonoma County Hot Air Balloon Classic - Sonoma Hot Air Balloon Festival 2026 - Festivals Near Me - Windsor, California

Do NOT go to this event. It is a waste of time and resources. All they want to do is squeeze every penny out of you, even the kids. My family drove up from the south bay this past weekend, even drove up a day early to get a hotel room nearby. We got there a little after 5am, no easy feat with a 1yr old and 6yr old, but we made it. We saw most of the glow show, it was fine. And then we learned that due to weather, the balloons would not be flying. We took it in stride, and tried to enjoy the event as much as possible, you can't control the weather, and we wouldn't want anyone to get hurt. My wife decided to at least take the 6yr old for a balloon ride. They had 3 balloons giving rides. After waiting in line for about 2 hrs, it was my wife/son's turn. Apparently something changed in the weather, one of the other balloons already stopped giving rides about 2 min prior, and after sitting in the basket for about 2 min while discussing the possibility of canceling the ride, and going up maybe 5 feet in the air for a few seconds, they decided to cancel the ride. I thought they would at least provide a refund, or at least put my son in the 3rd balloon that still had a long line, and was 50+ feet in the air. Nope, they blamed the weather and refused to give a refund, or let him go in the other line for the balloon that was still going up. My kid was so disappointed and did not understand why. The very LEAST they could do is refund the $30 we paid, nope, they decided they would do nothing and left a very disappointed kid. It's only $30, nothing compared to the gas/hotel/other costs i spent to come to this event. It was the principle. This event is not for kids. It ss for the organization to squeeze pennies out of kids and their families. I will never return to this event, and will discourage anyone else I know from attending this group's events as well. read more

This is a disastrous event!!! Just like the most recent customer left the review here one year ago, it is not worth it. I regret going there and wish I could have reviewed the remarks earlier.Those event organizers keep doing the same thing over and over every year without any reflections and improvements. The event describes the tether balloon ends at 10:30am PT on 07/19/2026. The time only varies depends on the wind conditions, which is the sole factor. The weather is terrific for hot air balloon event on 07/19/2026. But when I got there at 9am, I only see one hot air balloon doing tether show. The other one is down and the workers are trying to leave. The advertisement on the website is totally misleading. I cannot see multiple tether balloons, just that poor one doing business superficially. The workers on site do not allow me and other people arriving there waiting in line. They claim that there is no guarantee we can do tether balloon ride given the people already in line. How can that be? The people arrive in your stated time slot and well before your stated end time on the website. The weather is absolutely perfect for hot air balloon and that is the ONLY factor which can affect tether balloon ride. God! I have been waiting for 90 minutes and sees no sign of allowing us to wait in line and do tether balloon rides. The workers' attitude is terrible and apathetic as if it was none of their business. Go hell this event!!! Refund my money back!!! Or else you will assume all your responsibilities for not refunding!!! read more

Look...it is what it is...a balloon festival. I went into this "hating" balloons and left being amused/annoyed. The good. The balloon show in the dark with all of the flames being lit to music looked pretty cool. The food vendors were solid...packed and long lined , but good. The swag was kinda sad but again...balloon themed . Here's the bad...so very little actual activity. So much downtime and nothing to occupy the mind except watching TikToks in the cold. Folks, have a live band or maybe dancers or something. read more

Sonoma County Hot Air Balloon Classic - Swag sucked - Festivals Near Me - Windsor, California

This festival is a two day festival that's supposed to feature a lot of hot air balloons that'll be released in the early morning with tethered rides you can purchase for $20, but this didn't happen. Tickets cost $12 + fees. We left around 2am in order to get there before 4am for the festival on Sunday. The gates open right at 4am so because we were there early, we had to park outside, and we were able to find free parking pretty close by. Parking in the parking lot costs $5. We went in and they scanned our tickets. No stamp or anything to show that you had tickets. There are a bunch of portapotties if you need a restroom. There's a few booths selling food, but not much so don't expect that much. It's better that you should probably bring your own food instead. The food they had: burgers $12-14, falafels, churros, breakfast (pancakes, potatoes, sausage + drink) $10, coffee $2, and some booths selling merchandise, toys and knickknacks. Around 5am, they started inflating the Remax balloon, with some flames lighting up the area. In previous years/pictures, it looked like they did more balloons in the "Glow Show." After it was inflated, they kept it up for a while, but soon after, it got deflated. We headed over to line up to get in line to get a tethered line ride. After waiting about an hour, they made an announcement that due to weather conditions, it would be unsafe to have any rides and that they would start inflating the special shape balloons. We headed over there, but due to the wind conditions, they were only really able to inflate the balloons for like 5-10 minutes each before getting deflated. By 7:30am, I think most of the special shape balloons were inflated and we left. Was this worth going to? Not really no since we were only there for like 3.5 hours (4-7:30am) and most of that consisted of waiting around... If the event was able to set up some kind of alternative entertainment and the event gets cancelled due to the weather, then it wouldn't be such a waste, but since there's not much there, it doesn't seem like it's worth it... read more

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I attended the Saturday 6/4/22 event in Sonoma County Fair Grounds. It was big enough space for all the balloons there. At first we parked at the wrong place and wondered where's everyone, but then finally found the right spot by following the signs "EVENT PARKING" it didn't show where the disabled parking was but we saw it after parking at the main lot. It was a cold morning (the gate opened 3:50am although the event starts at 4am, so wake up earlier if you want to get a good parking). We were ready with blankets and hoodies. There were a lot of vendors for food and to keep your bellies full: coffee, hot cocoa, burgers, hotdogs and funnel cakes...there was even a vegan stall that served organic vegan coffee and such. Bathroom (decent) and porto-potties were available. At 5am most of the balloons (8-10 balloons at the time) were up. At 5:05am they started the Glow Show. It was magical for us first timers!!! Like every other review here there's not enough balloons to accommodate hundreds of people (so expect that, it's just facts) wanting to experience the tethered balloon rides. A lot of waiting in the line if you really wanted to do that. Weather permitting event always is depending on guess what? The weather. This time the balloons were not able to launch at the planned 6:30am because of the weather. We understood, it's for everyone's safety. All in all it was a great show. Will plan to do it again. read more

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I had higher expectations for this festival and was disappointed that the balloons didn't get much air time. Most of the balloons just stayed on the ground, and the ones that did fly, only rose a few meters off the ground and were tethered. I guess it wasn't really anyone's fault because apparently the weather conditions weren't very optimal for flying?!? Anyway, I woke up at about 3:30am, so that my friends and I could drive all the way north to Windsor. I don't really think this was worth the drive, but it was pretty interesting for me, since I got to see giant Bunsen burners and interesting balloons! There was an angry bird one, but we left before it was fully inflated. I also thought that we would have the chance to ride in a balloon, but I dunno. I think there was a line for that, but it was kinda long, and it was super cold outside so we didn't bother. I give this festival three stars, despite the balloons being a disappointment because the emcee was really funny and amusing. Hahaha I think he said something about people storing champagne in the basket just in case they land in someone's backyard, so they can give them the bottles as an apology. This may happen since it's hard to steer and people don't really have control over flying these things?!? I also thought that it was awesome how there were a good amount of food vendors selling nom noms because who really has time to eat a full breakfast before getting there on time at 5am? LOL. One memorable part was when I got to walk inside the balloon and see how big it was. That was pretty neat! This was interesting, but underwhelming, so go if you want, but if not, you're not missing out on much. read more

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This event will always be weather-dependent; so for the page not to have a rating over 2-3 stars should be expected. This was the reason we booked a trip for my brother's Last-20 birthday over the weekend--but by far should not be the sole reason to drive up to Napa-Sonoma County or you'll be sorely disappointed. We attended the Saturday, June 9th display on a cold, breezy morning and were lucky enough to see the Glow Show on arrival. That included about eight balloons that were all taken down before 8am. Being HUUGE Star Wars fans, at least my brother and I were able to take a couple of shots of Derth Bater before the announcers decided to call it quits because of the gray-windy conditions. Not including the teathered balloon ride, count a total of 10 with Tomcat from Tom & Jerry that was inflated for a quick minute in the baseball field near the entrance. Yeah, it fell really, really, reallyreally short but waddayagonnado. We were more appreciative of the sleep we were gonna re-gain after waking up at 3am to drive to the thing. 'Least we can say we tried ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. read more

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This is a great event! You have to get up really early to get there on by the opening (we woke up at 3:00am), but seeing all the balloons get inflated and learning from the hot air balloon owners about how it works is a fun experience! The event lasts from 5:00am - 11:00am, but it doesn't really start going until about 6:30am. Parking is on the street around the venue so be prepared to walk a bit before you get to the main launch area! Additionally, hot air ballooning is extremely weather dependent so on a hazy/cloudy day like the one I went on they don't actually allow the balloons to fly un-tethered. That said, you can buy a tethered hot air balloon ride on a classic balloon or a tweetie or sylvester balloon for only $10. The ride is quick (~2minutes long) and you just go up and down super fast, but I think it's a fun experience to have! The vibes at the venue are super chill as well. There is music as well as food trucks and stalls with mimosas, waffles, breakfast food, and carnival food! Overall it was a good time and I look forward to coming back next year when the weather is better! read more

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I would 0, if Yelp would let me!!!! Horrible hot air ballon show ever. There was no wind that anyone could possibly feel, but they wouldn't even do a glow of the balloons (blow up the balloons for display) till 7:30 am after waiting from 4 am! If could sense that they cannot do a launch, why to collect $18 per adult & $6 per child plus $5 per parking. Or I would have been ok if they at least did a glow show with the balloons blown up once at 5 am during their glow show (in which they were just displaying fire, that too in an uncoordinated fashion) and another time at dawn. As a photographer, I was very disappointed!! And for god sake they let all the people into the lawn area where they were trying to launch the balloons. And because of all those people, they could not even blow up the balloons! Why couldn't they install temporary fences in that area designated for launch? This event all together was just frustrating and intended to steal common man's money!! I had drove for 2 hrs starting at 2 am to be here at 4 am. Put up with all the lines and traffic surrounding the event and even to get a coffee!! All for nothing. Am only glad that I did not book the atrociously bumped up & expensive motel 6 room for the previous night to attend this annoying hot air balloon launch!! read more

Sonoma County Hot Air Balloon Classic - Festivals Near Me - Windsor, California

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I really enjoyed this event. I drove down to Windsor and stayed overnight so that I could get to the venue about 5am. The event was pretty crowded. To me, the event was well organized. There were a huge selection of hot air balloons. There is an opportunity to ride in a hot air balloon (or stand in the basket). No, the balloons do not leave the ground; they are tied down by rope. I would suggest that patrons go stand in line early for the tandem hot air balloon rides. The line can get pretty long and moves slow. Not everyone in line will get a chance to ride in a balloon. My only gripe with the event is that is was supposed to end at 10:00; however, they started deflating the balloons for the tandem ride at 9:30 am. To me, they should have done this when the event was over, at 10:00 am. The event makes for an okay outing. I would attend the event again. read more

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For waking up at 3am and driving 2 hours and then getting stuck at traffic near the exit and almost not getting parking because the lot was full, it could have be a litttle more impressive. Or maybe my expectations were too high, but when they say they're going to release 30 balloons up in the air, I assumed it was going to be all at once and I was going to "ooo" and "ahh". On the bright side, we arrived a little before 6pm and it wasn't too cold or windy. You can stand in the field where they blow up the hot air balloon which is cool to watch, but then after a few, you get the idea. Aside from a couple of food and drink vendors, there's not too much to do except watch them blow up a balloon and send it up - and they did so pretty much one at time. Every time they sent a balloon up, it was pretty exciting, but the wait time in between is not (I'm not a very patient person). Go with people you like to hang out with because you'll need the entertainment in between. Also, when the balloons go up, they float away so you don't get to see all of them hanging out in the sky together. They do have tethered balloon rides, but the lines were 2+ hours. Pass. Overall, I'm glad I went this year to see it, but I don't know if it would be worth the early morning again for a second time. read more

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Beautiful beautiful BEAUTIFUL festival! I wouldn't call it a festival but more like hot air balloons mini meet sorta thing. I didn't see much balloons like I expected but I still enjoyed the time we were there though! Presale ticket: $6 and you can print it online. Its just much easier if you had your ticket first because they had another entrance if you don't Last minute: $10 either online or when you get there Parking: $5 or free street parking outside and walk in For this year schedule, they started at 5A.M for dawn patrol. Not sure exactly what is but they had 4 balloons up at once and it looks pretty neat in the dark! 6:30-7:30A.M is when they prep for all the balloons to go up so whoever gets it up get to fly first. Therefor you won't see all of them up at once. 8:30A.M and on, there will be 4 to 5 balloons on the ground and you can line up to whichever one to ride it for $5. It's not worth it since its just lift you off the ground for a bit and you're done. read more

Sonoma County Hot Air Balloon Classic - Festivals Near Me - Windsor, California

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The recent influx of reviews highlighting the fact that festival is 'weather dependent' makes you wonder how genuine (or Not) they all are. I wouldn't be surprised if most/all of them are posted by insiders or promoters. While I agree and have no problem with that statement, being there and not seeing the slightest wind or weather condition that should have prevented these balloons from flying makes me think this is one big scam. Had the organizers think this event is so weather dependent, they should have communicated that loud and clear in their ticketing system. Dragging people from hundreds of miles in the middle of the night can not be justified by their conduct and therefore they should be held accountable. read more

Worst festival ever. Had to drive for more than 2 hours. Woke up early with almost no sleep at all, tickets weren't check at the entrance. My family and I were there freezing for about and 1 hour and a half and then when finally they put up some balloons, they took them down in less than 5 minutes. The event was over at 7:20am... This wasn't worth it. read more

Glad to find out about this at the last minute. It made for an early morning, though was well worth it. Very creative balloons with easy viewing from Keiser park. The event was well organized. I purchased tickets in advance to park at Keiser, though it appeared the parking at the high school may have been easier to get in and out of. Portions of the proceeds appear to go to various non-profit organizations. read more

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Waking up at 3 am, picking up people, arriving around 5:30 am. If not for the crowd , i would feel pretty dumb. Early means finding parking, freezing cold, and dips on free bag and balloons and emptyer restroom, scout out a grass space to hang out. Literally a guy brought his propane and made pancake breakfast for his party. Bring beach chairs and blankets to sit on grass and picnic breakfast. Its a wait for the balloons to arrive, inflate and fly off. $15 entrance fee if you go online. $20 at the entrance. Very long lines to go up a tethered balloon. Very long. Thank goodness for the extra pottys. So many young kids, strollers, big kids. Cute family affair, great to see at least once, expected more balloons but not that much. Two day event 6/10/17 and 6/11/17. Please come around 6 am or else it is not worth the trouble. After 7 am, most of the action is done and gone. Great photo opportunity. Took some great pics. read more

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Before I say anything else about this event, I'm going to tell you that if you ever have the opportunity to visit a hot air balloon festival, DO IT. Getting to the venue by 5 am to be part of the "Dawn Patrol" and seeing the hot air balloons go from piles of colorful fabric on the ground to filling with air, towering to over 8 stories tall (just the balloon part is HUGE) with frequent blasts of flames filling the balloons further, then watching as their journey into the nighttime sky was worth every minute of sleep missed. As the balloons floated up into space, a distant sunrise began. Quite incredible, beautiful and unique sight. That all takes place from 5 am - 5:30 am then you wait until 6:30/6:55-ish am for the main balloon event to begin. It's freezing outside but you don't care because one by one you see the massive balloons inflate then take flight with their brightly colored fabrics floating away. The sky is eventually dotted with colors everywhere, back-lit by the ever raising sun and wispy clouds threading the sky. Again, it's INCREDIBLE. Ah, reliving the sight I'm still in awe of the incredibleness that it really is. The event itself, although being the 25th anniversary, could use some much-needed suggestions- and then use implement them. Suggestions: Vendors: please have more! The lines at the TWO vendors selling coffee were way too long and all the vendors were scrunched together, making it even more of a cluster. I would highly suggest spreading vendor tents out more and offering a little more variety and at least one more coffee "shop." Announcer: Super loud and slightly obnoxious. I may turn down the decibels some to save people's ears. The man never really stopped talking. The woman announcer was much more tolerable. Music: Maybe more variety of music (the music played was SUPER old) and again, slightly muddled the experience for me. Website: It's 2015 and it's the 25th anniversary of this event taking place... and there's really not much info on the website about purchasing tickets at the event, vendors and sponsors that are at the event, no contact phone number, and I did email with a few questions and never received a response. These little things make a difference. Overall it was a very cool and a one of a kind experience. I'm incredibly glad I got up at 2:30 am for this. read more

NEVER AGAIN!!! TERRIBLE ORGANIZATION!!! Visited this event last year. Beautiful balloons, but launch was canceled because of bad weather. Wasted few hours in line for rides, but they closed right in front of us. This year again we bought tickets as daughter really wanted a ride. Woke up early, drove more than 100 miles and at 6.20am were standing in line for rides. Missed 6.30 launch, waited in line whole morning and again they closed right in front or us. Few hundred people spent hours staying in line and didn't get any chance for it. No parking, need to find spot blocks away and walk for 30+ min. I can't imagine worse event organization! read more

After Disney California's Adventure Soaring Over California- I expected to see 30 balloons over a majestic wine country. Unfortunately, the scenery here is not that epic. You have to wake up REALLY early to set the first balloons rise (aka get there around 4-5 AM), and there's not much to do there. We tried getting to the tether balloons but after waiting 1.5 hours weren't able to make it in time since it got too warm/windy. They should try to impose some cutoff to not waste people's time. read more

My sister and I live in Windsor, so why not attend a local event?! Left the house at 4:30, immediately sat in traffic until 5:30, and we went only went about a mile. By the grace of God we found parking outside of the event because the lot was full. Parked our lawn chairs right near the three balloons that were already lit (ooooooh aaahhhh!!) and watched them barely flicker until dawn. Some light show. The initial blow of the flame was neat but the rest...we were not entertained. After finally getting comfortable and warm we were ushered off the grass so that the rest of the balloons could begin their set up. Poor event coordination if I do say so myself. Vendors were meh... Tethered rides were a bit expensive for the wait time.... And the group launch scheduled for 6am has not occurred yet (currently 7am). Neat to see up close but we will not be back. We will be watching from the confines of our backyard when and if they finally launch. read more

I took my family for this event. We thoroughly enjoyed it. I have 2 kids (boys - 13 and 9) , both loved all the balloons and the overall atmosphere. We havent seen anything like it and hence loved it. we went there very early (4:30 am) and got good place to sit. Took a couple of chairs for my parents and a carpet for kids to sit on. We were ready with blankets and jackets. It was a chilly morning. If you want to go there, go prepared. Lot of people attend the event, so its a good idea to go as early as possible. The Dawn Patrol event will have 3-4 balloons which are big and they will light up in the dark. Looks nice ! After that there will around 45 mins of wait in which you can go around the park to different stalls, eat something, get some cofee, generally enjoy the atmosphere. The main event starts aroun 6 am, where there are lot of big balloons participate and its fun to watch. They allow you to go upclose to the baloons and watch them blow up. YOu can get good pictures with the balloons too. The big balloons look really awesome when they go up into the air. Remember that they dont offer rides in those balloons, you just have to watch them. If you want rides they have some separate area where you pay $10 and they will take you up 20-30 feet for 2 mins and bring you down. We did not take those rides since there are long queues and my kids were happy just seeing the balloons float in the air. We stayed at Santa Rosa , at Country Inn and drove to the event in the morning. The traffic was light. We got up at 3 am, got ready and went up there. Overall a good experience, everyone in my family enjoyed it ! read more

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The balloons were great. The organization sucked. There was not enough porta potties. We had to stay in a 30 minute to an hour line and there wasn't even a handicapped porta potty. I saw person in the wheelchair have to maneuver herself into a small porta potty and that is never OK for any event. (We were on the side of the back Dimond field only 4 porta potties for the whole back side) read more

Sonoma County Hot Air Balloon Classic - Festivals Near Me - Windsor, California

Balloons were pretty impressive when you first them. However, the whole event was a bit disorganized. When we arrived at 5am, there were hundreds of people milling into the cramped parking lot opening. At one point, an employee told us that the lot was full and we had to turn around.. How was that possible with 10 cars waiting behind us? The MCs for the event were not the most exciting to listen to. Balloons were released one at a time, or at most, two. There were tether balloons available for $10/ride, but the ride was so short! Less than 5 minutes. Would I go again to this event? Most likely not. Once is enough. read more

Overpriced. And they still take your money knowing that the event will be cancelled because of"winds". I'm disappointed and never attending one of these again. Attend at your own risk. Also there is very limited parking. Had to park a mile away and walk in the dark, in the cold, at 5am. read more

Not worth the money......There were 6-7 balloons inflated and each were deflated about 5-10 minutes later. The event was cancelled due to winds and was over at around 7:30am. I feel bad for those people that came later or drove far away for this. read more

By far the worst experience ever. Do not waste your time or money. I bought tickets the night before to get the discount price, still a little over $26. Woke up at 3:30 to make it on time for the glow show at 4:30. Got there and was not given any info about the weather issues until 7, no email, no text, no announcements. Then after waiting 2+ hours was informed that they would be blowing up the balloons for the "glow show" and would not be flying the hot air balloons at all. No refunds either, imagine that. Tried contacting the company and they basically said sorry can't/won't do anything about it. Huge jerks! Go somewhere else to watch the hot air balloons but don't go this route. read more

The event was not organized well. Had tough time figuring out parking space. The park is too small to host so many people. Unfortunately the event was cancelled for 6/11/2017 due to wind conditions. It was a big disappointment overall :( read more

We volunteered on Saturday and arrived around 3:30am. There was plenty of parking at the time. We parked and took a nap in the car. Woke up around 5, we checked in at the volunteer booth and were offered free breakfast at the VIP lounge. Then we got to the baseball field and stayed there for the pilots to come to pick the crew. Our original plan was for me to be the volunteer and my friend get a ride (through an instant sponsorship) on a balloon which I was gonna help launching and chasing and bring her back safely. Our plan did not pull off though cuz she thought it would be cool to join me as volunteer and help launching the balloon. We were part of the Planet-shaped balloon main crew. It was fun:) read more

Be there before 5am! traffic on the freeway is for miles! be prepared! it is a lot of fun and the balloons are great~ rides are available but a lot of people so be ready for that too! I'll be going again this year! read more

Only good if you can reach early when the gates open like 4-5PM. Pros: - Lot of balloons, food options. Cons: - Parking is BIG issue, park's lot is small, high school lot was full at 6AM. All neighborhoods are packed by 6AM. We parked 1.5 miles away had to walk. Wasted 45 mins. - Event doesn't last long by 7:45AM all balloons were gone and most people left. - Long queue for toilet and rides. - Rides are meh wait for hours and you get lifted a few feet off the ground. - Poor instructions on website especially for parking. No signs on streets to guide people. (There is a path through the high school to the park if you park in one of the neighborhoods but not shown on gmap, most people end up walking round a big block.) read more

I'ts alright. However waited 5 hours (from 5:30am to 11am) just for a 2 mins ballon ride is not worth it!

Woke up at 4am, drove all the way there, and the guy comes on the speaker to say the balloons weren't flying! Wasted my entire day.

This is a great yearly festival. It may be a bit early to get up but watching the balloons being inflated and feeling the heat from the propane jets while the sun is rising is surreal. The colors and larger than life balloons will delight adults, kids, and makes for some great photography read more

This was my first time going to this event. My main complaint is the event was very disorganized and short! Went on Saturday 6/18/16. Coming from SF, we left the house around 3:30am and were at the exit by 4:45am. It was traffic and at a complete standstill. We finally reached the parking lot at 5:45am only to find out it was FULL. This was very disappointing because we completely missed the dawn patrol launch. We had to circle around residential a few times and finally found a spot. Walked a few blocks and we were finally in at around 615am. The main launch was supposed to happen at 6:30 but honestly it did not happen til close to 8am. The balloons were amazing and was so much fun seeing them take off. The highlight was seeing the Yoda and Darth Vader balloons. The downside is there weren't that many balloons. So after Yoda and Darth Vader launched, that was pretty much the end of the event. Yup, 8:30am and the event was over! And lines for the tethered balloon lines were ridiculous!! The host of the show did mention that this year's turnout was far more numerous than previous years. Hopefully next year they can choose a location with space that can accommodate more people and with a bigger parking lot. If you live in the area and can make it on time to see the dawn patrol launch, then it will totally be worth it for you. But if you are driving miles away just for this event, I say think again. read more

This is the lamest event ever. Waste of time and money. I think this is just a gimmick to get you to pay for entrance so you can buy $6 hotdog on a bun. The space they use is not enough to launch a balloon. They know they will never launch the balloon and try to give you the impression that they will. If you really want to see and ride hot air balloon, go to the real deal in Albuquerque, NM. read more

I think some of the previous reviewers have been a little harsh on this event . I also got up at 3am and drove 1.5 hours to Windsor and proceeded to sit in a small but slow moving traffic jam , but I decided to park in the town ( free and lots of spaces available if you bothered to look ) and then walk the lass than 1 mile to the park . This year the weather on the Saturday was perfect , yes a little chilly but it was 4.30am so exactly what I expected . I understand that some previous years the weather was not very good but there's not much the organizers can do about that and if you understand the basics of Hot Air Ballooning you'd know they certain weather conditions to be able to lift off ( they don't have engines ) simples ! Admittedly the area is kinda small , maybe the event has outgrown the venue and they need to look into a larger space for future events . The event could definitely be better organized but so could most events I've ever attended . Personally speaking if they marked out the area where they launch the Balloons better so people don't put their blankets down and then keep having to be asked to move then that would help , but there was also a blatant lack of common sense by a lot of the attendees . The Balloonists and their crews were very friendly so long as you didn't piss them off , like people smoking next to Balloons with large containers of Propane ( Common Sense issue ) , walking over the canopies that were laid on the ground prior to inflating , getting in the way of the crew ( while they were trying to give you what you came for ) . Admittedly the Balloon ride queue's were rather large and slow moving even with 6 Balloons doing rides but if you take into account the baskets can only take around 3 -6 people and there were hundreds wanting to take advantage then you'd expect to wait . I didn't volunteer at this event but when asked , a lent a hand to get a Basket and Canopy in the truck at the end of the day and the crew were very appreciative . I enjoyed the event and will probably attend again if my schedule allows . But I would urge the organizers to look in to a larger venue with better access in the future . All in all a great event , just remember , if the wind is too high or its too warm , chances are you won't see many Balloons fly . ( Common Sense people ! ) read more

Unorganized event with unintelligent staff leading to a mob of angry people. They closed down the balloons by 9am without warning anyone that they are wasting there time standing in line for 3 hours. I arrived at 6am and still could not get on. Good thing it is a charity event, but a total waste of time. read more

It was a nice morning. We went this past Saturday and got to watch the balloons inflate and fly - a beautiful sight, maybe 12 - 20 of them in the air. The balloon rides open to the public were tethered and didn't go more than 20 yards off the ground, if that, so we didn't bother with those. But it was worth going to see the balloons together up high. read more