By Doug Fletcher,Staff Writer

Organizers of the weekend’s Great Falls Balloon Festival are declaring it a success, despite some sporadic bouts with rainy weather.

“I’m very tired,” festival President Rick Porter said about 9 Sunday night as he directed traffic out of Lewiston’s Railroad Park.

Tired, perhaps, but smiling. “It ended on a great note,” he said.

About 25 hot air balloons managed to launch Sunday, most lifting off about 6:30 p.m. as sun-drenched humid air chased off lingering storm clouds.

“It looked pretty bad at 5 this morning,” Porter said. “It was pretty discouraging,” he said of rain that began falling Saturday and continued into the 13th annual festival’s final day.

“But we were able to do all of the activities we had scheduled except for the LifeFlight (helicopter) demonstration,” Porter said.

He had high praise both for the festival’s hundreds of volunteers as well as for local people and visitors who thronged to festival events despite sometimes dreary weather.

“It was great,” he said, to see so many people watching and dancing at the festival’s many musical shows even as rain poured down Saturday.

And it cleared early enough on Sunday that crowds were lured back early to the carnival, and its food and other booths.

By 5 p.m. Sunday, crowds of people were making their way to the festival sites on either side of the Androscoggin River, anticipating a good launch. About 6:30, when the kaleidoscope of colors began lifting off, some cheered and applauded.

It was too early for Porter to estimate turnout, but he said that given the weather, attendance was good. Figures on how well the charities did in selling food and wares won’t be available for some time, he said.

Porter said the balloon launches that were held went off without a hitch.

One had a tough time at the landing, however. Firefighters from Lewiston were called to help locate a hot-air balloon in the dark near a potato field off Cotton Road shortly before 9 p.m. Sunday. There were no reports of any injuries, however.

Porter said that people hoping to see the balloons fly again might get their wish early today. As many as 20 balloons, including those in the shape of the American flag and a space shuttle, were expected to get in a final launch between 5:30 and 8 or so this morning.

That’s with “weather and wind cooperating,” said Porter.

– Check out reader contributed Balloon Festival photos at: https://www.sunjournal.com/specialsection/balloon05/gallery/index.php