A lot can happen in 13 years. That’s how long the Crown of Maine Balloon Fest has been capping off summer in the County with a wonderful streetfest and a weekend of balloon-filled skies. And it gets better every year.
The fest has added more balloons to the roster since it started. Hot air balloon pilots from around the country and nearby Canada come to lift off at the Northern Maine Fairgrounds.
Beauty queens and little misses helped get the fest rolling with a ribbon-burning ceremony last Thursday evening. A burst of flames from a balloon burner vaporized the ribbon, officially kicking off the fest.
A daunting sky and increased winds made way for a rather cool and dry evening for the Street Fest downtown.
Hundreds poured into the blocked off section of Main Street from the Remax building all the way down to Merchants on the Corner. Many of the fest’s sponsors lined opposite sides of the street with food and games. Smack dab in the middle of Main Street, inside of a tractor trailer, live music from the Jerry T Band filled the evening with classic rock.
Offering oodles of fun for County youth seemed to be the focus of the night. A bounce house, clowns, relay races and face painting kept kids occupied as parents chowed down on flame-kissed food at the Presque Isle Elks barbecue, as well as other munchies from various vendors up and down Main Street.
Chatter on how the weather would hold up for the balloons over the weekend kept folks guessing, but The County’s friendly neighborhood weather man Ted Shapiro sounded pretty optimistic on social media about conditions over the following few days.
Bumping into familiar faces was how most folks spent the evening downtown. The fest gets people out and brings a sense of community to central Aroostook County as folks prepare to chase balloons over the weekend.
“When you live in a rural area sometimes you stay in your home and don’t have the opportunity to get out and about and this allows you to see your neighbors and other people you haven’t seen in a long time,” Rosalie Dwyer, Presque Isle resident, said.
Dwyer planned to keep her eyes to the sky over the coming days with her trusty camera at the ready.
“It’s great to see people come out and enjoy themselves,” Megan Stanley, pilot coordinator and co-chair of the balloon festival, said.
Stanley has been part of the festival for the past seven years. She started out as a crew member, then the volunteer coordinator and now she spends her time inviting pilots to the festival, which she does year-round.
Pilots enjoy coming to The County to fly because of the open fields and gorgeous scenery, according to Stanley. An added bonus is the economic uptick to the surrounding communities she said.
“(The festival) brings in tourism, revenue to the area and pilots tend to stay longer than the weekend of the festival, and a lot of people come to the area for flights, to see the balloons and take part in the festival,” she said.
Floating above the region allows you to see Aroostook from a different perspective, and aside from the occasional blast from a burner, it’s peaceful up there, she said.
Since Day One of the festival so many years ago, pilots Jim Rogers and Doug Shippee have come all the way from St. John, New Brunswick to take flight.
“It’s just a premium event here for sure,” Rogers said. He remarked about how fantastic the local landowners, crews and overall enthusiasm from the city makes it worth coming back each year. “It’s a very welcoming place, it feels like coming home every time you come back here.”
“What’s made Presque Isle so great is every year their committee is looking ahead to the next year and improving on everything associated with the festival and that’s the way a festival grows,” Shippee added.
