From its humble beginnings in 1992, the Great Falls Balloon Festival has grown into one of the premier events in the Lewiston-Auburn area.

“The idea came from Dan Valcourt, an Auburn fireman,” said Rachel Desgrosseiliers, executive director of Museum L-A. Valcourt attended an Androscoggin Chamber of Commerce meeting and suggested that the Twin Cities hold a balloon festival because of the favorable wind patterns over Lewiston and Auburn.

Degrosseiliers spent two years visiting other festivals all around the northeast and in parts of Canada, researching all aspects of the festivals. She took the best of what she saw and liked, and came home to put together a business plan for a Twin Cities balloon festival. “If little Yarmouth can do it [with their successful Clam Festival] why can’t L-A?” Desgrosseiliers especially liked how Yarmouth invited all nonprofits to participate as vendors.

Initially, the festival’s board of directors consisted of seven community members, including Desgrosseiliers, Dr. John Reeder, who also agreed to be “balloonmeister,” and others.

Their budget was $65,000, and when a major sponsor got cold feet, the seven “made it happen” by putting their own money on the line. “The risk we took was worth it,” she added.

During that first year, the festival brought in 30 balloons, with one special-shape balloon called “Noah’s Ark.” The festival only drew about 30,000 people that first year. In the morning, explained Desgrosseiliers, we had “a few people standing around. The second year, we had 50 balloons, and about 130,000 [attendees]; it was mobbed! Within a few years, we had to put a cap at about 50 balloons due to the logistics [of launching so many balloons], and we had pilots waiting in line.”

Balloonist Rick Jones started coming to the Festival in 1993. That year “they held it on the Auburn side of the river. They had us leave the field and then fly back over.”

The first year of the festival, explained Jones, the balloonists all stayed in the dormitories at Central Maine Community College. Money was tight, added Desgrosseiliers. The men’s and women’s bathrooms were on alternating floors, but the balloonists were all mixed together. “People changed the signs as they needed,” said Jones, which led to a few interesting moments. “Now they get us a hotel.”

In 1997, he recalled, there was a “huge crowd on the bridge and they were all going crazy. I had some local passengers in the basket and as I touched the river everyone on the bridge cheered.”

In recent years, Jones has brought “Footloose,” a solo “jet pack balloon” called a “Cloudhopper,” to the festival. He is bringing this exciting and unique balloon to L-A again this year.

Bill Whidden, balloonist and owner of the “Great Balls of Fire” balloon, “can’t remember how long” he’s been a part of the Festival. It’s been at least 12 to 15 years. Whidden lives in Florida and North Carolina, but “spends most of the summer in the northeast,” traveling with at least two of his balloons.

Whidden loves coming to L-A. “It’s great to go to an area that has so much interest and where the people are so excited; it’s one of my favorite events!” He recalled, “One year, when the weather was perfect, the field was so crowded with people that we had to get people to move so we could set up.”

“It’s very cool,” said Jones, “to fly out over such an incredibly excited population. It’s also cool how they handle the food, with nonprofits.”

The first year there were about 20 food vendors, and all were nonprofits. Back then, said Desgrosseiliers, Pat Kosala of Mechanics Savings Bank was the treasurer. The vendors would go straight to the bank after the festival with their earnings. The Festival kept 15 percent, which went toward the Festival budget for the following year, and the nonprofit kept the rest. Desgrosseiliers remembered that wonderful first year when some of the nonprofits “left with tears [of joy] in their eyes” because, for some, their earnings “would fund their entire budget for the year to come.”

Mell Hamlyn is the current treasurer and sponsorship chair. This year, said Hamlyn, “There will be 34 nonprofit groups as [food] vendors, as well as 30-35 craft and trade vendors who pay a fee for a 10×10 booth.”

Brother Richard and St. Martin de Porres, a shelter providing comfort and support for the homeless, have been vendors “since the beginning. As a nonprofit, we rely on donations and fundraising events. If the weather is good, we raise between $3,000-5,000 each year.” This year, he added, “We need a few more volunteers, especially on Friday.”

New to the Festival this year, the Liberty Festival will have a booth with tacos, taco salads, nachos and more. Cathy McDonald, who is now with the Liberty Festival, is a veteran of the Balloon Festival having worked in past years with St. Dominic Academy at their pancake breakfasts and chicken barbeques. This year, like St. Martin de Porres, McDonald and the Liberty Festival are “looking for volunteers. As a fundraiser, this event is very successful,” she added.

In addition to a wonderful variety of food, entertainment has always been a big part of the festival. This year, explains Nick Knowlton, whose expertise makes him a good choice to handle the crazy logistics involved in providing entertainment at the Balloon Festival, “We have two stages and three days entertainment.” With several dozen acts, each between one and one-and-a-half hours long, that’s “a lot of entertainment and a lot of scheduling.” Highlights this year include many local acts, including L-A’s own, “Terry and the Telstars,” and “Jonathan Edwards will be the closer on Friday night on the Lewiston side.”

According to a survey conducted in 2011 by the Festival board of directors, the overall economic impact on the Lewiston-Auburn area was estimated at $2.3 million. Hamlyn noted, “Statistics show that 63 percent of the spectators were from outside of L-A, and 12 percent were from out of state.”

“People come from all over the place to attend this festival,” added Desgrosseiliers.

Desgrosseilier’s favorite Balloon Festival memory comes from the day her 81-year-old Dad climbed into the basket of a balloon. He flew with Dr. Reeder, and “the glow and smiles on his face, the mixture of fear and anticipation, was priceless.”

Although she is no longer actively “working” on the Balloon Festival, Desgrosseiliers attends every year. “I don’t miss it,” she said. She enjoys seeing “the excitement of the people in the community, including the visitors. We have a beautiful community,” she added, and there is a strong and palpable sense of pride and ownership. “The Great Falls Balloon Festival truly belongs to the community.”

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