UPDATE: After checking the weather about 8 a.m., balloon festival organizers decided to cancel the second bonus launch for Saturday morning. We will have more details later.
LEWISTON — Balloonists wasted no time Saturday morning, taking full advantage of calm winds to launch as soon after 6 a.m. as they could.
Balloonmeister Mickey Reeder said she expected many to be back at Simard Payne Park later Saturday morning for a “second hop” — refueling, repacking and launching a second time today.
“They wanted to make up for Friday night’s flight,” she said.
Reeder said she expected balloonists to refuel and be ready to launch soon after 8 a.m. Saturday. They can launch from any clear space, she said.
“But I expect most will come back here, to the park,” she said. “This is by far the best place to launch.”
Launches are scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday night and at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sunday as well.
The festival continues Saturday morning with a pancake breakfast at 6 a.m. and a special pancake breakfast with festival guests the Pirates of the Dark Rose at 8 a.m.
Pirates will set up their camp in the park and will participate in the festival parade from Academy Street in Auburn to Chestnut Street in Lewiston.
The pirates will present cannon lessons and a small arms demonstration and will host a “Buccanear bootcamp” for kids 6-12-years-old.
Live music, on stage at Simard Payne Park and Auburn’s Great Falls Plaza, includes the Camp of Rock 2014 band, Cold Blue Steel, Terry and the Telstars, Zealous Bellus, the Malinda Liberty Trio, Twin City Spinners and Big Blue.
It begins again Sunday morning with balloon launches, a second pancake breakfast live music with The Veayo Twins and Audio Vibe on the Lewiston Stage and Downeast Brass, JimmyJo n’ the Jumbol’Ayuhs and Sonic Nova on the Auburn stage.
The Pirates of the Dark Rose will put on a puppet show at 10 a.m. and a pirate battle at noon in Lewiston. They’ll move across the river to Auburn’s Festival Plaza for pirate weapons demonstrations at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
The final balloon launch of the festival is scheduled for 6 p.m. Sunday.
LEWISTON—
#GFBalloonFest: Watch the launch; share the launch
If you can’t make it to the Great Falls Balloon Festival this weekend, you can still watch each balloon launch on SunJournal.com. We will be sharing photos and videos of the festival fun in our social networks.
Look for our coverage at:
- SunJournal.com/BalloonFestival
- SunJournal on Instagram
- @SunJournal on Twitter
- Lewiston Sun Journal on Facebook
You can also share your photos by sending them to balloonfest@sunjournal.com.
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- Balloon watchers gather on the Longley Bridge and on the Auburn side of the Androscoggin River to watch the morning launch of the Great Falls Balloon Festival on Saturday.
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- Sunny Boy rises above Simard-Payne Memorial Park during the Great Falls Balloon Festival on Saturday morning.
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- Balloons launch from Simard-Payne Memorial Park during the Great Falls Balloon Festival on Saturday.
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- It was a beautiful morning for launching balloons Saturday for the Great Falls Balloon Festival.
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- It was a beautiful morning for launching balloons Saturday for the Great Falls Balloon Festival.
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