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 From its humble beginnings of a few balloons setup to draw people
into downtown during the annual Lincoln Art Fair, the festival has
outgrown several sites to become one of the largest and best
attended balloon fests in the Midwest, and it has a farther reaching
good reputation with balloonists.
Moving to the Logan County Airport in 2005, the expansive grounds
made provision for a multitude of ever-changing family friendly
activities and entertainment. Plenty of vendors with delicious food
line the entry taxiway. A stage on the opposite end of the grounds
hosts afternoon and late evening live bands enjoyed by young adults.
And the venue permits close-up parking to all activities in one
location.
The festival's diversity provides enough alternatives that even when
the weather intrudes on the main feature, hot air balloons, those
attending can still have a pleasurable and satisfying experience.
The festival's continued success can largely be attributed to its
organizers who begin a critical review right after each year's event
and begin right away planning how to make the next better. Work goes
on all year.
 It is also the volunteers, hundreds during the event, who make it a
success. Many commit a precious few hours of their time to assist in
preparations, manning the grounds, or in cleanup; some are there all
day each day performing various tasks.
And there are a number of extraordinary individuals who dedicate
themselves as volunteers to making it all happen. They spend extra
long days setting up. They are there at all hours during, and come
back afterward for the clean up; and they do it year after year,
happily if you don't happen to ask them past their point of
exhaustion.
If you have ever planned, conducted and cleaned-up after a party of
say, 20 people, well imagine doing that for thousands. It is a big
deal. Just laying out the roads and parking in a field, conducting
traffic flow, and other logistics are a major undertaking.
The volunteers do it for our community.
And then really, there are the spectators. What's a festival without
guests. They matter. Those who come for the very first time, often
traveling a distance, are trusting that a good experience awaits for
them and their family, and that their comfort and safety have been
taken into consideration.
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Let's not forget all those who come year after year, bring their
families and friends to look for something new to enjoy, and to take
in the spectacular balloon launches and glows that are the highlight
of the festival.
Years past, visitors would go home and tell others about their
experience. Now as you walk the grounds, you will hear and see
people on their cell phones talking and texting directions, "You
have just got to see this. Come now. You'd don't want to miss it."
We haven't even touched on the balloonists, what they go through to
get here and fly; what is done to make their experience a good one -
arrangements for refueling propane, road maps, breakfasts, pilot
briefings, a balloon meister to coordinate launches, agreements with
local farmers and landowners for landing - just to name a few
details. It is no simple matter. That many of the same balloon
pilots and their families come and return time and again is a
testament to the years of goodwill that has been built through
dedicated hard work.
For more on the Balloon Festival workings at the Logan County
Airport, this 2013 article provides more insight on what it takes to
put on the festival, but it would take a book and then some, to give
credit to all whom it is due.
Balloon fest: 25 years and going up -
Volunteers make it work
This is but a teeny tiny glimpse into what has made the Lincoln
Balloon Festival a greater success year after year... 28 years now,
and counting.
Congratulations and thank you to the Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of
Commerce, event sponsors, and the countless volunteers, for all your
effort and support of the festival and to our community.
All the staff of Lincoln Daily News salutes you
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