Heavy morning showers and gusty wind grounded scheduled flights on the opening day of the 10th annual Gulf Coast Hot Air Balloon Festival in Foley, but organizers kept the two-day event rolling with music, food and family activities at the city’s soccer fields off U.S. 98.
Weather Scrubs Early Flights
The festival gates opened at 2 p.m. after a soggy morning, and damp ground combined with steady wind forced organizers to cancel early evening tethered rides as well. Despite the setbacks, the evening balloon glow was still expected to go on as scheduled at 7:30 p.m.
“I know these guys. Whatever happens they’re going to do their best to do some show on tonight,” said Donna Watts, president and CEO of the South Baldwin Chamber of Commerce, which organizes the festival. “We just want everyone to come out and have a good time. We have great entertainment. The balloons will be here to do some entertaining, and you know the dog show and all the food and the music — come out and enjoy it.”
On-site parking was closed for the day because of the wet conditions, so festival organizers set up extra shuttle service from Foley Elementary School on Cedar Street and from Tanger Outlets on Alabama 59. Saturday’s morning balloon flights were also called off, though pilots hoped to fly tethered rides and hold the mass ascension Saturday night.
Music, Vendors and Frisbee Dogs
Even without balloons filling the sky, crowds steadily built through the afternoon. Rhythm Interventions and The Molly Ringwalds took the entertainment stage Friday, with the Jason Abel Project, Sugarcane Jane and The Mulligan Brothers slated for Saturday. The World Famous Disc-Connected K9’s Frisbee Dog Show was scheduled for multiple performances both days, along with a kids’ fun zone, an arts and crafts village and an antique tractor display.
Among more than 40 vendors, Ronald and Janice Dady, who travel from Florida each year to sell fresh-roasted corn, said the festival remains one of the prettiest they attend. First-time vendor Joe Dingler of Mobile, who sells birdhouses and carpenter bee traps, said he and his wife came both to sell their wares and to see the balloons for the first time.
Visitors traveled from well beyond Baldwin County for the event. Chiquita Steele drove over from Mobile with her 9-year-old daughter, Jalicia, who said she loved the bungee jumping, rock climbing and other festival games. Zohar Pinhasi came from Miami with his two children, planning to ride the Re/Max balloon on Saturday, and said the Alabama Gulf Coast always feels like a relaxing getaway.
Saturday’s schedule called for the grounds to open at 6 a.m., with the festival marketplace running until 8 p.m., shuttle service resuming from Tanger Outlets at 2 p.m., and the balloon glow and mass ascension planned for 7:30 p.m., weather permitting.