"We like camping better!" --Raymond Alexander Kukkee



view of the north shore Critter Pond, KOA Canandaigua NY [c] 2009 jcb

Dansville Balloon Fest: The joke was on us, and more pictures from 2009

by Jim Bessey, editor

We got up at dawn on Labor Day to race down to Dansville's Festival of Balloons (NYSFB at Dansville). We were running a bit behind, but made good time to the airfield, only to find that the festival had ended on Sunday. The joke was on us, and I won't have new pictures from the 2010 launch. In fact, the weather was so fickle during the weekend, I'm not sure if they launched at all.

As a consolation prize, here are the photos of fancy balloons I promised last year but never delivered. I'm sure some or all of these beautiful hot air balloons was in attendance this year, too.

Dansville Balloon Fest barn balloon
The fancy balloons prepare for launch at Dansville Balloon Fest

Dansville Balloon Fest barn balloon aloft
Don't forget to close the barn door!
Dansville Balloon Fest purple-winged balloon aloft
This one's got speckled wings for extra lift aloft.
Dansville Balloon Fest Bricker's french fries balloon
A blatant plug for Bricker's "famous" french fries. Cool, huh?
Dansville Balloon Fest buck-toothed balloon
I'm sure this bucktoothed guy has a name. And ideas?
Dansville Balloon Fest purple people eater balloon
Wake me up! Seems like I've seen this one in my nightmares.

All photos copyright 2009 - reprints available on request.
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We're disappointed that we missed the Balloon Fest this year -- it's become a tradition of ours to stay at Skybrook Campground overlooking the airfield in the valley. In fact, last year we watched the balloonists sail directly over our campsite shorty after we arrived. This year the weekend's weather just wasn't great for camping, so we went hiking instead. I'll have pictures from that adventure later this week.

That's the final batch of hot air balloon pics from 2009. You can see the first group of balloon photos here, and the second round of hot air balloons in the air here. If you have pictures from 2010's Festival of Balloons and want to share, please contact me via Comments or by using the link at the top of this page.

2 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear you missed the balloon festival, Jim. I was so hoping to live through you, cuz I know we'll miss the one here in PA. We always do! Blast it!

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  2. Now I'm hearing that there WAS indeed a launch scheduled for Monday morning, exactly as we thought. Some upper-level weather must have been the issue, since the ground conditions were fine, though not ideal.

    It's possible, and I've yet to confirm this, that not a single launch occurred during the three days of this balloon fest. What a pity, if true, when the fest followed an entire week of idyllic weather.

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