Glowing expectations: Hot air balloons will still rise over Montgomery this weekend
UPDATE: There have been changes to this weekend's Spring Fling Balloon Festival event at Blount Cultural Park. It is no longer associated with Balloon Glow Tour and is now a free event.
The forecast deflated plans for hot air balloons at Montgomery's Blount Cultural Park on Friday night, but the they should be flying Saturday and Sunday from 5-9 p.m.
"We just thought that with the rain chances and the wind that it wasn't going to work out," said Jamie Gonzalez, Cultural Affairs Events Manager for Montgomery. She said the Lisa Perkins & The E-lusion concert scheduled for Friday night continued as planned at the park.
Guests got in free Friday, and admission for Saturday and Sunday is 100 percent free as well, Gonzalez said.
"You just have to pay for the balloon ride, if you so desire," she said. Those will cost $25.
All parking lots will be open at Blount Cultural Park, and parking is now completely free as well, Gonzalez said.
"No more VIP parking. No more ticketing," Gonzalez said. "It's an open event."
Originally, this event was a ticketed event being organized by Richard Garbie of Balloon Glow Tour.
"He is no longer a part of this event," Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said Montgomery found it's own balloonists for this weekend.
"We're making it work with what we've got," she said.
Along with the balloons, there will be live music, food vendors, and activities for kids.
Plan your fun: 10 things to do in Montgomery including Spring Fling Balloon Glow and more
Concerts will continue on Saturday and Sunday:
Saturday is Classic Rock and Hip Hop Night, featuring Tone Man Dan and a 90's Hip Hop DJ Keith.
Sunday night is Country Night, featuring DJ Bubba Culpepper and performers Cameron Dubois and Rick Hanson.
A look back on Montgomery ballooning
Locally, hot air balloons have been used for fun, competition and promotions for decades:
In 1972, one made the news for flying above shopping centers in Montgomery and Prattville. It wouldn't be the last. The seven-story balloons became frequent sites through the decades that followed at local grand openings, open houses and large celebrations, like the Fourth of July events from the late 1970s at Jackson Lake Island.
In 1973, two of them were brought in for the first time at the state fair in Montgomery, with flights over the city. When one of them landed in a backyard on Biscayne Drive, it caused a huge traffic jam from people rushing to see it up close.
On May 10, 1980, Montgomery hosted the first invitational WBAM Balloon World Race starting at at Garrett Coliseum, a sunrise to sunset event with more than 20 balloon pilots competing for a cash prize. "I felt as if I were in a fairy tale, waving to people in another world below," wrote Patty DiRienzo, an Alabama Journal photographer and novice balloonist who was in the 1981 Balloon World Race.
One of the last big balloon events to soar into Montgomery was in the mid-'80s and '90s, when Montgomery hosted the annual Hot Air Balloon Spectacular and Music Festival, which featured both balloons and several music acts.
Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Shannon Heupel at sheupel@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Hot air festival in Montgomery at Blount Cultural Park this weekend
