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.

Three balloons hover over Simard-Payne Memorial Park in the near-calm during the 2017 Great Falls Balloon Festival in Lewiston on Sunday.

Balloons are framed by the Auburn Riverwalk bridge during the 2017 Great Falls Balloon Festival at Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston on Sunday.

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.

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.

Balloons take off from Simard-Payne Memorial Park during the 2017 Great Falls Balloon Festival in Lewiston on Sunday.

Balloons float overhead during the 2017 Great Falls Balloon Festival at Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston on Sunday.

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.”

The first balloons of the morning lift off during the 2017 Great Falls Balloon Festival at Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston on Sunday.

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.

The RE/MAX balloon hovers over Kennedy Park during the 2017 Great Falls Balloon Festival in Lewiston on Sunday.

Spectators watch the morning’s launch of the 2017 Great Falls Balloon Festival along the Riverwalk in Auburn on Sunday morning.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Balloons dip down onto the Androscoggin River for a “splash and dash” during Friday morning’s launch. 

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. 

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. 

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.”

Owen Dillion of Auburn helps TomCat inflate during the Great Falls Balloon Festival in Lewiston on Saturday morning.