Annual Events ~

Hot Air Balloon Festival

Preakness® Celebration Hot Air Balloon Festival

Experience our annual Hot Air Balloon Festival perfect for young children and those young at heart, hosted Thursday, Friday & Saturday of Preakness® Weekend. Enjoy family activities, handmade crafts, retail and food vendors, and live entertainment. Balloon related activities include tethered hot air balloon rides, a walk-through of an inflated hot air balloon, pilot demonstrations, balloon launches and the nightly Balloon Glow at dusk.

On Saturday, the Balloon Festival culminates with a morning launch of the balloons.

Admission to the Preakness® Celebration Hot Air Balloon Festival is free and open to the public. Balloon rides and flights are fee-based.

Interested in exhibiting at the Hot Air Balloon Festival? Call 410.423.0812 for information.

To become a Preakness® Celebration Hot Air Balloon Festival Sponsor, please contact Regina Ford at rford@turfvalley.com or 410.423.0811.

Schedule of Events

Thursday, May 10th and Friday, May 11th
4:00 pm - 9:00 pm

• Food, Retail & Craft vendor exhibits open
• Tethered Balloon Rides* - go up 60-80 ft in a balloon
  $15 adults, $10 children under 12
• Walk-about Balloon - Fun for kids!
  $2.00 fee

6:30 pm

• Mass Ascension - Balloon Launch* (some balloons will remain tethered)

8:30 pm (approximately dusk)

• Balloons stand up and glow - 20-30 minutes

10:30 pm

• Last shuttle leaves for Fairgrounds

Friday, May 11th and Saturday, May 12th
6:30 am

• Balloon Launch*

*A Message from the Balloonmeister
Weather is the key factor for every hot air balloon pilot in determining if a flight will take place. For a safe flight:

• Winds on the surface should be less than 7 mph.
• Winds at 3,000 ft should be forecasted to be less than 20 mph.
• Rain should not be in the forecast for the period of scheduled flight.
• A hot air balloon should not be within 50 miles of a thunderstorm.

The most desirable flying conditons are: good visibility, light winds and no precipitation.
- Ron Broderick, Ballooning USA

Vendors

College Savings Plans of Maryland
Cookie Lee Jewelry
Country Pride Food Service
Eaglet 2000 Creations - 240.461.5243
Education First EHP
Happy Family
ING - 703.677.9321
Living Wellness Chiropractic
Mountain Tees-N-More: Water Wars - 609.579.1779
Nonni's Pies & Tarts
Old Texas Soda Company - 917.863.2053
Origami Owl
The Peppermint Pony
Pinatics
River & Trail Outfitters: Rock Climbing Wall
Roaming Railroad, LLC
Wild & Crazy Entertainment

Title Sponsor
The Bob Lucido Team RE/MAX Advantage

Glow Sponsor
Wegman's Columbia

Tether Sponsor
Howard County Tourism & Promotion

Envelope Banner Sponsors
Apple Ford
Greenberg Gibbons
Howard County General Hospital
Preakness® 137
Smyth Jewelers
Turf Valley
WCBM

Basket Banner Sponsors
Clark's Ace Hardware
The Baltimore Sun Media Group
Bath Fitter
Blossoms of Hope
Chapelgate Christian Academy
Columbia Bank
Shanty Grille
Donut Shack - 410.544.0278
Encore at Turf Valley
Eyre Bus Service
Howard Community College
Howard Bank
Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD
O'Donnell Honda
Poist Gas
Smiles4Children
Witzke Funeral Homes, Inc.