The Logan County Alliance cuts the
ribbon on a new era at the Lincoln Balloon Festival
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[August 29, 2015]
LINCOLN
- The phones are ringing off the hook; the office is packed with
boxes of t-shirts, souvenirs, and supplies. Inflatable balloons and
sponsor banners are showing up all over Lincoln. These are all signs
the preparations are entering their final stages for the 2015
Lincoln Balloon Festival.
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The Alliance invites the public to come out on Thursday, August
27th at 5:30 p.m. to help cut the ribbon to launch the new Lincoln
Balloon Festival. The ribbon cutting ceremony will be held at the
main festival gate off of Airport Road, at the Logan County Airport.
In addition to a ribbon cut our local pilots and special shape,
Darth Vader, will inflate and fly (weather permitting) to give a
preview of what to expect at the Festival on August 28th and 29th.
This event kicks off a weekend of exciting fun filled activities at
the Logan County Airport which includes 31 beautiful hot air
balloons launching several times throughout the weekend and glowing
both Friday and Saturday evening.
A new addition to the Thursday night preview flight at the airport
is a birthday celebration for the City of Lincoln. Did you know that
August 27th is the City of Lincoln's 162nd Birthday? The Alliance
invites the community to come join as they sing Happy Birthday and
enjoy delicious cake in honor of this momentous birthday!
With this new era of the Lincoln Balloon Festival organizers want
guests to have the familiar experiences as in previous years, with
vivid colors, exciting activities, wonderful smells, and great
music. In addition they have added more activities for families
including inflatable watersides, and on Friday an exotic petting
zoo. Back by popular demand is the wildly popular party band out of
Springfield, Captain Geech and the Shrimp Shack Shooters headlining
on Friday night after the balloon glow around 8:30 p.m. Other very
exciting live bands playing at the airport are Hat Trick at 4 P.M.
on Saturday and following the balloon glow on Saturday night,
Borderline out of St. Louis will be capping off the weekend
festivities. Visitors during the day on Saturday can expect the
gates open two hours earlier than previous years. Now opening at 11
a.m. on Saturday the Lincoln Balloon Festival brings the local
favorite bags tournament, and new celebrity dunk tank featuring
guest “dunkies” like Representative Tim Butler, Aldermen Todd
Mourning and Michelle Bauer, LCHS Baseball coaches Pat Hake and
Chris Phillips and all the Alliance staff to name a few. For a
detailed schedule of celebrity “dunkies” check the website at
www.lincolnillinois.com.
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The free park and ride service will be offered again to beat the $1 parking
charge out at the Logan County Airport. The off-site parking will be at the new
Big R parking Lot on Woodlawn Road. Shuttle service will run Friday and Saturday
afternoon from the Big R lot to downtown Lincoln then to the Logan County
Airport. The shuttle service will run about every 15 minutes to each of the
three locations.
Tether balloon rides are being offered again this year from 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.
on Friday and Saturday at the rate of $15 per adult and $10 per child. A limited
number of full rides are still available. Advance registration is required for
full rides.
Check out all the Lincoln Balloon Festival activities and a complete detailed
schedule at www.lincolnillinois.com,
or call the office at 217-735-2385.
[Andi Hake, Logan County Alliance]
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