PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Fourteen hot air balloons will fly over the northern skies this weekend as part of the 12th annual Crown of Maine Balloon Fest.
Pilots from as far away as Alabama, Florida and New Mexico will participate in the festival, running Thursday through Sunday, joining one pilot from Saint John, New Brunswick, one from Gatineau, Quebec, and four from Maine, including Derek Smith of Presque Isle flying the Queen of Hearts.
“They love flying here because of the scenery and wide open fields,” said Theresa Fowler, executive director of the Central Aroostook Chamber of Commerce. From a pilot’s perspective, Central Aroostook “is so appealing because in almost every direction they will be able to find a site to land, within three to five miles,” Fowler said.
“A lot of pilots want to come here,” she said, recalling one who joked that he’s tried to keep the Crown of Maine fest on the down low when he’s out of state.
Air balloon pilots may come on a sort of pilgrimage to Presque Isle, home to the launch site of the first successful transatlantic hot air balloon flight in 1978. If the wind is blowing east, pilots can get a feel for what it was like to ascend in the Double Eagle II from Presque Isle before it spent 137 hours travelling across the ocean to Miserey, France, near Paris.
Presque Isle and the Northern Maine Fairgrounds will have good views of the balloons and activities. The weather looks good, too, Fowler said. It should be clear Friday through Sunday.
The first balloon flight will be Thursday morning at 5:30, just before sunrise. Thursday night will feature a street fair in downtown Presque Isle, with a mass balloon ascension from the fairgrounds at 5:30 p.m., as well as activities for children and a variety of food, including, sausage, local pretzels and woodfired pizza. There will be more balloons, crafts and food on Friday, and a screening of the 2009 movie “Up,” about a 78-year-old balloon salesman who takes to the air.
Saturday will bring more youth events, an antique tractor pull, a duck race in the Prestile Stream, agricultural exhibits and more food. The final launch will occur at 5:30 a.m. Sunday and the festival will conclude with live music by Travis Cyr and the Mallett Brothers Band at the Riverside Market.
Tethered balloon rides will be offered for a fee beginning at 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
The Chamber of Commerce also is encouraging people to try their hand at photography and enter the festival’s amateur photo contest, with prizes of $50, $25 and $15.
