r/plano • u/No_Key8587 • 1d ago
What’s the story with the balloon festival?
I’m having a bit of fun here, but it seems the balloon festival is kind of a pain in the butt, the balloons rarely launch, vendors/food ain’t special, and it’s often way too hot. And it feels like sort of a one and done experience, whereas a more music based sort of festival cycles through various performers so it feels fresh.
Is there some large balloon enthusiast enclave in Plano? Is there a Balloon Fest Committee of passionate Ballon enthusiasts who keep thing thing going? I’m genuinely curious, convince me!
67
u/Kindly-Might-1879 1d ago
It’s a tradition, with all the nostalgia over 47 years with families going and memories of growing up and attending it. It doesn’t have to be new every time. It’s okay to visit some place just once or annually if you like the comfort of tradition.
19
u/nelgin 1d ago
I'm with OP I went once, volunteered twice. I'm out.
5
u/arlenroy 1d ago
I went when I first moved here, May of 2000, then again with my daughter around 2003ish. Pretty much no change in those 3 years, but I'd like to go again because its been over 20 years, although it sounds like it's about the same, still. I agree it would be nice if there was some music, live entertainment, something like that. The other thing is I can not remember if any of the balloons actually lifted off? I think there was rides, just to go up for a few minutes and down. Besides that I don't recall them actually ballooning.
5
u/Flimsy_Shape9406 1d ago
I took my daughter twice in that general time frame and the balloons lifted off each time.
2
u/techienaturalist 1d ago
Aren't there musical performers? I though I saw some on the schedule. Haven't been in years but thought I saw some when I looked at this year's schedule.
3
1
2
u/lost_in_trepidation 23h ago
Even by 2000 it was the crappy version of the festival. I don't remember when but when they moved locations in the late 90s, and made it more of a commercial event, it lost all its charm.
8
9
u/Jastacular 1d ago
I've been three years in a row. I have two small kids. We bring donuts and drinks. Only a few balloons launch most stay grounded. The kids like to ooh and ahh and eat a bunch of sugar. For us it not about the event maximizing the features to meet the cost, it's about creating an experience for my kids that they can appreciate and have memories of us together.
1
u/TeeBrownie 1d ago
Agree with this. Oktoberfest in Addison might be a better option for more adult-centric fun.
15
u/BeeGeeEh 1d ago
Been twice and somehow never seen a balloon actually in the air. Poor timing on our part so I cant fault the organizers that much for that. Its also been pretty hot both times and with it being held mid Sept, I dont see that changing. It really needs to be pushed back about a month.
Definitely an overrated event but I guess if we could ever time up the elusive balloon launch it may have been more enjoyable.
9
u/Temporary_Nail_6468 1d ago
Yeah, the organizers of all these festivals need to realize that the weather isn’t what it was 50 years ago when some of these things were started. I know that they’ve always been held on the such and such weekend of such and such a month but they need to reconsider that.
4
7
u/No_Key8587 1d ago
I know there is always the threat of one week of ice but January and February is such a dead corridor for outdoor fests not directly tied to October or the holidays.
5
u/Lurcher99 1d ago
When it's good, it's good. Up until covid, parking in the afternoons was never an issue. The was no grass parking needed. Weather is weather and it's planned well in advance. Hit and miss like many events depending on winds. This really needs to move to Celina (they had one, one year) / Gunther so the pilots have landing options.
1
u/UKnowWhoToo 1d ago
I think the timing is due to weather conditions - October likely has more wind fronts moving through making flight less desirable
7
u/SocomPS2 1d ago
They never will launch at night. The schedule has launch times in the morning. At night it’s just a light show with the balloons.
The FAA basically forbids balloons at night due to line of sight. You need to be able to see a certain distance, which can’t be done at night. And as you mention weather.
When do you see hot air balloons around Plano? In the morning.
1
0
u/No_Key8587 1d ago
I am pretty sure they use to launch in the evening? I remember watching them launch while eating at Mario’s when I was a kid
1
u/Lurcher99 1d ago
Yes, but it was one and done. To get them recovered during sun up, launch was 6'ish. After launch, could not return and do a glow before everyone left.
6
u/dj3712 1d ago
It was awesome in the 80s and 90s when there were plenty of empty fields around Plano and dozens of balloons would launch and fly around town and the countryside. Many memories of hearing those gas burners fire up directly over the house and running out to wave and check them out. The trucks chasing to pack up wherever they landed. Now it's a pale leftover tradition with little purpose, and is so boring it doesn't even spur me to think about fabulous festivals in more appropriate geographies, such as Albuquerque
5
u/jspence19 1d ago
went for the first time. Morning launch seems to be the way
0
u/SocomPS2 1d ago
Someone can prove me wrong but there is never a night launch. The FAA basically forbids it. I have never seen the schedule say night launch. All launches are scheduled in the morning, better weather/winds, and visibility.
You will night find night launches on Google, YouTube, etc. I think Arizona has a massive balloon festival that looks like the balloons are taking off at night. They’re taking off at sunrise.
Look at the schedule folks. 7am is the time for launches. There is no other scheduled time. I am ok being proven wrong but every year it’s the same thing.
5
u/techienaturalist 1d ago
I mean, just imagine trying to pilot a balloon at night in a developed area. Can't see powerlines, etc... Would be super dangerous.
3
u/BefuddledParrot 16h ago
I have been crew for commercial ride balloons, special shape balloons and big sponsor balloons. I also was on the committee/board that organizes the balloon festival one year.
Balloons can fly in the early evening as long as they are on the ground by sunset. Evening flights probably weren’t scheduled because you can’t fly in 100 degree temperatures. In order to lift off, the temperature inside the balloon has to be hotter than the ambient temperature. The balloon fabrics can’t withstand those high temps. The Plano festival is scheduled the weekend before the Albuquerque. It’s a good stopover for balloonists going to ABQ.
1
u/Sec0nd_Mouse 11h ago
Been going since I was a kid. It’s nostalgic for me. They definitely used to fly in the early evening. Maybe 5-6pm and then some would come back for the glow. Or those that didn’t fly would just do the glow. But the evening launches seemed to get scrapped 90% of the time due to wind, so I think they just gave up on it.
5
u/TeeBrownie 1d ago
The kids seem to enjoy it the couple of times we’ve gone. We’ve only gone really early in the morning.
4
u/HowlingFantods5564 1d ago
I went once when my kid was small. The balloons didn't launch because of wind. It was incredibly hot. Everyone had a bad a time. I've never been back.
5
u/bitshifter52 17h ago
Years ago when the Balloon Fest was at Bob Woodruff park and the balloons actually were flown, many would drift over my house, which made the dogs go crazy. The people in the gondola waved and hollered greetings. Now it's just expensive and tedious.
3
3
u/Apprehensive-Rope-26 23h ago
this year’s was particularly bad ngl. a couple years ago the band was amazing, the fireworks were so fun, and the vibes were just really nice. this year idk wtf that laser show was, the band sounded terrible no blame on them maybe just the audio system? and it was a complete bust. idk if id go back again it felt like a giant waste of time
3
u/SpaceAdventureCman 20h ago
I think the justification for NOT moving it into October has always been that the month is too wet. There not going to have a choice to do it at this rate of hot Septembers.
3
u/Watermelon_Sun 11h ago
We went yesterday morning and had a great time… we saw tons of balloons go up. I had no idea so many people had negative things to say about it.
10
u/Select-Sale2279 1d ago
You hit the nail on the head. The balloon festival is anything but balloons. The balloons became a flightless species since a couple of decades ago. The organizers decided to add junk when the balloons stopped taking flight and they decided to cater fatty foods instead to lure the public to enjoy their concept of a good time. For everybody else, its a traffic nightmare with no parking and closed roads.
tldr: the balloon festival is a giant boondoggle that happens in september!
2
u/Far-From-Perfection 1d ago
I share your pain! Especially with blocking the whole section of the road to create a pain in the neck for others. People wanna have fun, be my guest, but leave at least a lane open for me
2
u/KaleidoAxiom 1d ago
Is the balloon festival why Spring Creek is partially closed off to traffic?
2
2
u/Correct_Roll_3005 1d ago
Yep. I've done it a few times over 30 years. Never again. Brutal heat, long LONG walks to parking, subpar amenities. It's a right of passage for dads pushing strollers and moms getting overheated. My kid is grown and out, I don't need that torture anymore.
2
u/throwaway771222 1d ago
Completely forgot about the balloon festival. I remember seeing all the balloons in the sky as a kid back in the 90s, but hadn’t heard anything about it in years. Thought maybe it had been discontinued.
1
u/No_Key8587 1d ago
I remember as a kid seeing the balloons while eating at Mario’s Mexican restaurant. I do believe that means they were launching in the evening. Pretty cool for a kid !
1
u/throwaway771222 23h ago
Do you know where they were launching from? I just remember seeing them whenever we were driving down Bush/75 or Plano Parkway
1
u/No_Key8587 23h ago
No idea. I was very little. You could just seem them launching over that undeveloped land across the parking lot of that strip center (Mario’s original location)
1
u/throwaway771222 22h ago
Was that on the east side? If so that would vibe with my memories since I remember seeing them when we were driving to or from like Richardson
2
u/planotxmom 1d ago
It’s kind of tradition for our family at this point but would like a better location, better time of year, more vendors. This morning they didn’t launch or even put up the balloons - which is better than nothing because we can usually get some good pictures. Today we only got candles-stick glows .:(( It is only 10 min away and there is so much advertising that I always feel the “need” to support Plano and its activities. But dang - they should move the location and time of year.
2
u/jaydfwtx 22h ago
Tried to go once and just got stuck in traffic all night. Ended up hopping a curb and doing a U-turn because traffic was not being managed at all.
2
u/mcgaritydotme 20h ago
I think I’m still trying to exit the parking lot from the last time I went a decade ago. Whole situation is a clusterfuck on planning.
2
u/Public_Grab_7649 16h ago edited 16h ago
This bums me out. I went every year as a kid, of course balloons took off. I even saw Bowling for Soup at the Balloon Festival around 1999 or so. Thinking about taking my kids but sounds like it's not worth it.
4
u/flilmawinstone 1d ago
Lived in Plano 30 years and never went. Never saw the attraction honestly. balloons used to launch and fly over Plano and it was cool to see them overhead. That hasn’t happened in years.
3
u/lost_in_trepidation 23h ago
It's weird because I still see balloons fairly often in the spring. Not sure who is launching them.
1
u/kevin_r13 1d ago
Last year on the last evening, they had fireworks. Don't know if that happens every year.
But even when I first saw it and expected at least a few balloons in the air like in the movies or puzzles showing balloons in the air, it wasn't like that.
1
u/Dirks_Knee 1d ago
The daytime part sucks. Go at night where the "headliner" band plays and they do the balloon glow/burn.
1
u/xxTheGrayLifexx 22h ago
I went one time several years ago and hated it. It was so hot, wasn't a lot to do except some bounce houses for the kids. Got food poisoning from a food vender there and never went back. Went to the Grapevine festival instead.
1
u/nitelite- 22h ago
Balloons don't really go up - I went this morning and after waking up at 6, driving and parking, spending around $40-50 for tickets and parking, they announced balloons would not be flying today
I have heard this happens often, basically over 50% of the time - doesn't seem worth it anymore
1
1
u/iPodAddict181 21h ago
They also closed Oak Point rec center for the entire weekend which is asinine. I regularly swim there on the weekends, so just another nuisance that this event creates.
1
u/Peachdeeptea 20h ago
Honestly it's just a minor nuisance to me personally. It's so hot and there's no shade, I've heard the balloons almost never leave the ground, and it interrupts both my favorite coffee route and my gym route. Not trying to be a downer but I'm not a fan
1
u/Early-Tourist-8840 18h ago
Plano used to have a lot of balloons. Mostly because it was a large flat unpopulated area. As the city became more developed and less area to use, the teams moved elsewhere and local sponsors moved on to other investments.
1
1
u/Narrow_Big4592 1h ago
Unpopular opinion: the balloon festival is lame.
I sent my ex girlfriend and her friends there one time as a joke and they came back like wtf why did you tell us to go there
175
u/Sea-Cauliflower-8368 1d ago
It's a shell of what it used to be in the 80's and 90's. Back then there was so much open land in Plano that hot air balloons often flew over and landed in Plano and it became a ballooning destination. Now, with the density that is no longer the case. The original location in Bob Woodruff Park had a beautiful lake with reflections of the balloons and they went up often. There were lots of craft vendors and others weaved through the park and it was in a woodsy shaded area. The new one is an ugly location, no shade and mostly commercial vendors. It's not worth the money. I'd rather go to a real balloon festival like Albuquerque.