Champaign County Balloon Fest

The skies over Champaign County will be adorned with hot-air balloons during Champaign County Balloon Fest, sponsored by Tech II and sanctioned by the North American Balloon Association. This hot-air balloon competition, taking place at Grimes Field, the airport in Urbana, promises to provide entertainment for the entire family! The Balloon Glow takes place at 9 pm on Saturday evening, July 14-all pilots will light up their balloons for all to see!

A balloon competition is not a race but rather a test of precision flying. Pilots must be able to read wind currents and the competition map in order to fly as close as possible to a target set by the competition director. The target might be an intersection of two roads, a large “X” placed in an open field, or even an imaginary window in the sky identified by GPS coordinates.

Some competition flights require that pilots fly to two or more different targets in a single flight. The festival also will feature a “balloon glow,” where the balloons, while on the ground at dusk, use their burners to light up like giant light bulbs.