Lulu Ruane of Bridgton plays in the fabric of Jim Rodrigue’s balloon as it inflates during the 2017 Great Falls Balloon Festival at Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston on Sunday. ©Brewster Burns
Appropriately dressed Journey Ruane plays in the fabric of Jim Rodrigue’s balloon as it inflates during the 2017 Great Falls Balloon Festival at Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston on Sunday. ©Brewster Burns
Owen Dillion of Auburn helps TomCat inflate during the Great Falls Balloon Festival in Lewiston on Saturday morning. ©Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
Pilot Jim Rodrigue of Lewiston brings his hot air balloon, Tailwinds, in for a landing on an old dairy farm off of Broad Street in Auburn during the Friday morning launch of the Great Falls Balloon Festival. Dawn Sullivan, center, of Lewiston and Kim Long, right, flew with Rodrigue. “This was a bucket list for both of us and we didn’t want to go alone,” Long said. The two were scheduled to fly during the 2016 festival, but their evening flight was canceled due to high winds, delaying their first-ever balloon trip for one year. “I thought it would be scary,” Sullivan said. “But it was peaceful, very calm and relaxing.” ©Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
Balloon pilot Jim Rodrigue of Lewiston hands Skip Larrabee a bottle of sparkling wine after Rodrigue landed his hot air balloon, Tailwinds, in front of Larrabee’s home in Auburn on Friday morning. Larrabee is the fifth generation in his family to have run a dairy farm on the fields along Broad Street, where several balloons landed Friday morning. ©Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
Pilot Mark Fritze lifts off from Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Freedom Flyer during the Great Falls Balloon Festival’s Saturday evening launch in Lewiston. ©Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
Balloons dip down onto the Androscoggin River for a “splash and dash” during Friday morning’s launch. ©Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
Pilot Jim Rodrigue gives last-minute instructions to his passengers in preparation for liftoff during the 2017 Great Falls Balloon Festival at Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston on Sunday. ©Brewster Burns
Ada Leland of Bridgton plays in the fabric of Jim Rodrigue’s balloon as it inflates during the 2017 Great Falls Balloon Festival at Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston on Sunday. ©Brewster Burns
Pilot Jason Boucher of Chester, New Hampshire, gives the thumbs-up after liftoff during the 2017 Great Falls Balloon Festival at Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston on Sunday. ©Brewster Burns
A balloon moves by the spires of the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Lewiston on Sunday during the 2017 Great Falls Balloon Festival. ©Brewster Burns
Rodney Holmes of Lewiston records balloons in the morning sun. Holmes, originally from Philadelphia, was posting the video on Facebook for family and friends to see. ©Brewster Burns
Spectators watch the morning’s launch of the 2017 Great Falls Balloon Festival along the Riverwalk in Auburn on Sunday morning. ©Brewster Burns
The RE/MAX balloon hovers over Kennedy Park during the 2017 Great Falls Balloon Festival in Lewiston on Sunday. ©Brewster Burns
Three balloons are seen through the trees of the Auburn Riverwalk during the 2017 Great Falls Balloon Festival at Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston on Sunday. ©Brewster Burns
The first balloons of the morning lift off during the 2017 Great Falls Balloon Festival at Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston on Sunday. ©Brewster Burns
Tony Augello of Turner gets a photo of a balloon. Augello was attending his 23rd balloon festival. “I only missed two,” he said. “The first one and another when I went to Alaska.” ©Brewster Burns
Balloons float overhead during the 2017 Great Falls Balloon Festival at Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston on Sunday. ©Justin Pelletier/Sun Journal
Balloons take off from Simard-Payne Memorial Park during the 2017 Great Falls Balloon Festival in Lewiston on Sunday. ©Justin Pelletier/Sun Journal
Three specialty balloons are inflated for display during the 2017 Great Falls Balloon Festival at Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston on Sunday. From left are Terry the Mouse, Pea-Nut the Elephant and TomCat. ©Justin Pelletier/Sun Journal
Jason Boucher of Chester, New Hampshire, shouts instructions to his crew during the 2017 Great Falls Balloon Festival at Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston on Sunday. ©Brewster Burns
Balloons are framed by the Auburn Riverwalk bridge during the 2017 Great Falls Balloon Festival at Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston on Sunday. ©Brewster Burns
Three balloons hover over Simard-Payne Memorial Park in the near-calm during the 2017 Great Falls Balloon Festival in Lewiston on Sunday. ©Brewster Burns
A balloon is framed between the spires of the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Lewiston on Sunday during a launch at the 2017 Great Falls Balloon Festival. ©Brewster Burns
The Peanut the Elephant balloon hovers behind the Tomcat the Cat balloon as both are inflated during the 2017 Great Falls Balloon Fest at Simard-Payne Park in Lewiston on Sunday. ©Justin Pelletier/Sun Journal
LEWISTON — The 25th annual Great Falls Balloon Festival wrapped up with a half-launch in the evening — but plenty of party to go.
Three balloons took off from Simard-Payne Memorial Park around 6:30 p.m., the latest they could lift off to beat sunset. The wind speed kept the other pilots and passengers on the ground.
Unfortunately, none of the cartoon balloons were able to inflate on Sunday evening. An unnamed pilot said that because of their size and shape, they have a lower wind threshold.
Four passengers riding in a balloon that did take off were very happy to lift off.
Allison Budrick and her sister, Brenda Nagle, were on their third attempt of the weekend. Budrick said they were supposed to go up on Saturday morning, but the launch was postponed, then canceled.
Budrick said she planned her family trip around this weekend. She had come up from Florida and her sister arrived from Massachusetts.
Their mother, who passed away recently, had always wanted to go up in a hot air balloon, she said. So they brought a photograph of her with them.
“We’re taking her with us,” Nagle said.
There were originally four people in their group, but were happy that at least they could both go.
In the basket with them were Mike and Catherine King, who came all the way from Georgia.
Catherine said her mother grew up in Maine and they have a family house in Fryeburg. They were already here on vacation when they saw a commercial for the Great Falls Balloon Festival.
“We saw it on TV, called them up and got signed up to go,” Catherine said.
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