Baloon Festival without Balloons?
 

When I purchased advanced tickets for Friday there was no warning that balloons would not inflate if there were winds......so I purchased 3 tickets at $15 each for the opportunity to rent a chair for $5 to look at an empty field. Buying tickets in advance was a big mistake. Seems that they need a refund policy to pay some portion of ticket back if there are no balloons.

Happened to me last year.. prepaid.. and no.

Good news, if the balloons don’t go up in the air than they can’t come back down on another green of a golf course. Hopefully that balloon pilots license has been revoked.

You left too early. Balloons were inflated. They did not fly due to wind but it turned out great.
Can’t figure out how to upload photos or I would.

It’s amazing what people will pay to be entertained. Yes we are cheap standing outside we had a great view.

So, if everyone did that….do you think the event would happen again?

Umm, nobody should need to be told that .
But, some did go up early and land around the new KFC area near Buffalo Crossings.
We counted 17 in the air around 7:30 am to 8:00 am.

Went there once. The Some baloons fired up but that was it.

Today probably won't be any better with this wind.

You are kidding, right? Revoke a balloonist's license for landing on a golf course? Well, maybe that's a great idea, right after we pull your golfing rights for landing your ball in the rough, or in someone's yard.........

Well it doesn’t sound like a big hit anyway

Based on this thread?

It was fantastic. !!
They actually needed about 6 volunteers for each balloon and about 15 balloons were inflated.
I volunteered and we rolled out the balloon onto the polo field and helped inflate the balloon. We learned so much from the pilot. Then after the balloon was straight up we walked around the field and took pictures of all the other balloons and then came back and helped take the balloon down, open all the air flaps, get rid of the air, roll it up tightly into a bag and get it back on the truck. It was an assembly line of fun and exciting people. We talked to many people in the stands that absolutely loved it.
You just had to be PATiENT and wait for them to begin. Many people left early and missed everything

Balloons never go up in unsafe conditions. Now you know

Agree with you. We bought 4 advance tickets.

$15.....what a joke....Was a free event a few years ago. But for those who want to spend their money....have fun :MOJE_whot:

Was more bothered by the requirement to pay for chairs at the event. $10 each to sit in stands (even though tickets appeared to have assigned seats with a row & seat number) or $5 each to sit on a plastic chair at ground level.

And the captain that safely landed the plane in the Hudson river and saved lots of lives. Should have his license revoked for landing in a river? NOTTT...
:ohdear::ohdear::ohdear:

Same thing happened to us two years ago. At least we could admire the baskets

The balloons were up at 8:00 am watched them for about 30 minutes for free……

Here are some pictures from Friday night.

And here are some from Saturday morning. No launch but you were able to get up close to talk to the pilots. No charge Saturday morning to walk onto the filed from the rec. center.

We bought tickets to go with friends on Friday. We did see a polo exhibition and there were lots of vendors. It was a beautiful day. It would of been nice to know more information before we went. 7:30 AM, free by the way, seems to be the time people can see balloons go up, less windy. It would have been nice if they’d have given a wrist band for the next day as a good will token, since the balloons weren’t even on the field. Or, maybe let people go up to the stands to watch the polo game ($10 for that) or let us sit in a chair ($5 for chairs). The polo grounds are something The Villagers can be proud of and they aren’t cheap to maintain. I happy I went but will watch from afar in the future.

This is on the very first page of the website for the event. And has been for all four years of the event.

I watch balloons on the 75 incher - just type in “buffoons in balloons” and I get wyle e coyote pumping up his new Acme balloon….

Famous quote from Forrest Gump. "stupid is as stupid does" Hmmmm. You buy a ticket for an event that is totally based on weather and then are upset that the weather isn't cooperating really??.

Balloons aren't like airplanes. You can steer them (in a very general sense) by taking advantage of wind currents at various altitudes. But once the gas starts running low or unexpected weather kicks up a responsible pilot will look for the safest place to put down, and golf courses are ideal.

By wife and I took a balloon ride out of Stillwater, MN some years back (her birthday present to me). It was a deal where we purchased tickets in advance and then received a phone call, or not, the evening before if the weather looked like it would cooperate. No responsible pilot will risk the balloon and the people if he or she isn't convinced the weather will cooperate. The balloon we rode was (at the time) the largest hot-air balloon in the world: 25 passengers plus the pilot were on board. The flight was uneventful and beautiful, but the wind started to shift direction and blew us toward the Mississippi River--not good landing areas for numerous reasons. Our pilot brought us down in a residential section of Stillwater, precisely on a street corner. Neighborhood dogs went nuts; I can still remember a woman painting her garage door whose jaw literally dropped open when she saw us. Great memory!

Exactly why I will never buy tickets again. Did it a few years ago. Miserable event. No balloons. Lousy food. UGH. No refunds.

If you buy ANY tickets for ANY event in The Villages through Villages Entertainment web site, they will give you a gift certificate credit if you are unable to attend the event (of course, in advance of the event).

Many hot air balloon meets we attended in other cities don't get off the ground for a number of reasons (wind, rain, even nearby airport approaches)

My wife and I didn't attend, but when I heard about the price policy ($15 for the day, $20 at the door) I was somewhat taken aback by that. Correct me if I'm wrong but I was under the impression that there were a whole lot of other ways the paying customers could spend their money once inside the gate. Where do the admissions dollars end up?

Where do the admission dollars end up ??
The Villages entertainment PAYS these pilots to come here. One pilot drove 17 hours from Ohio to be here. The pilots get put up in the Waterfront inn for the 3 days. Lots of expenses to put on this show.

No more pre-purchase of ballon fest tickets for us.

Another perfect example of “you just can’t fix stupid”! BTW, 22 balloons went up Sunday morning.

:welcome: To Talk of the Villages...... you're gong to fit right in.

Looks like your typical market night but with balloons

We (5 of us) drove from Hawkins to see the balloon glow at 7pm thinking they would let us in without tickets since everything was closed for the last hour. My 87 year old non mobile parents wanted to sit in the car to see it. Not only dud they want to charge us $100 to get in but they didn't even inflate the balloons. We would have been more disappointed if we bought tickets earlier.

Its not nice to call someone stupid.

Obviously they DID inflate the balloons. See previous post with PICTURES of inflated balloons

happens every year

They don’t control the weather, you know who does. Talk to him.