Great Falls Balloon Festival: Photos and video from Friday morning

Balloons fly along the Androscoggin River in Lewiston on Friday morning during the first launch of the Great Falls Balloon Festival. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)

Balloons fly over Lewiston on Friday morning during the first launch of the Great Falls Balloon Festival. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)

Balloons take off from Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston on Friday morning during the first launch of the 2018 Great Falls Balloon Festival. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)

Hot-air balloons fly over Lewiston on Friday morning during the first launch of the Great Falls Balloon Festival. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)

The view from inside of Joel Jones’ balloon on Friday morning at Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston on the first day of the Great Falls Balloon Festival. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)

A balloon floats past the former St. Louis Church in New Auburn on Friday morning during the first morning of the Great Falls Balloon Festival on Friday morning. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)

A balloon performs a splash and dash in the Androscoggin River on Friday morning, where the pilot dips the basket into the water before flying away, Friday was the first of three days of the Great Falls Balloon Festival. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)

Hot air balloons prepare to to launch Friday morning at Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston for the Great Falls Balloon Festival (Carl Natale/Sun Journal)

Balloons were inflated at six in the morning, starting from Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston on the first day of the Great Falls Balloon Festival. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)

The balloon Freedom Flyer launches Friday morning at Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston for the Great Falls Balloon Festival (Carl Natale/Sun Journal)

Joel Jones in his balloon high above Lewiston on the first day of the Great Falls Balloon Festival. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)

Joel Jones walks into his balloon on Friday morning to do a pre-flight safety check on the first morning of the Great Falls Balloon Festival in Lewiston.(Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)

Joel Jones’ balloon gets lowered onto Merton Boulevard at the end of the Friday morning balloon flight. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)

Joel Jones, front, and his crew pack up the balloon on Merton Boulevard at the end of the Friday morning balloon flight. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)

The crew forces the basket back down to the ground and lowers the balloon in Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston after the pilot Joel Jones discovers that one of the clips has become unfastened. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)

Joel Jones fires up his balloon on Friday morning in Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)

Balloon Festival this weekend in the L/A there will be detours and lots of traffic so please be patient and plan accordingly on the bus routes. Between 10 am and 1 pm tomorrow Main St bus and New Auburn bus will not be going on Lincoln St . Thank you have a GREAT WEEKEND pic.twitter.com/NiRN80Vu31

— citylink / Lewiston-Auburn Transit (@purplebusla) August 17, 2018

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There she goes! The balloon is Windswept out of Alabama. @nmannix81 #GreatFallsBalloonFestival2018 pic.twitter.com/37GuBu4tfo

— Jeff Mannix (@JeffMannix) August 17, 2018

Up up and away they go! The second balloon is up! #GreatFallsBalloonFestival @WGME pic.twitter.com/lWxFlDj8A0

— Lexie O'Connor (@LexieOConnorWX) August 17, 2018

More photos from the @gfballoonfest Friday morning launch. #gfballoonfest pic.twitter.com/0ilnCrliWQ

— Sun Journal ? (@sunjournal) August 17, 2018

https://twitter.com/PattiMacFla/status/1030402763581255680

The 26th Annual @gfballoonfest is underway! Live coverage on https://t.co/ruSUzWecMW #gfballoonfest pic.twitter.com/MOjAKzjbz5

— Sun Journal ? (@sunjournal) August 17, 2018

Gearing up for the 26th Annual @gfballoonfest which is about to get underway with the first launch of the weekend at 6 a.m. Live coverage on https://t.co/ruSUzWecMW #gfballoonfest pic.twitter.com/RbGTEjm1o2

— Sun Journal ? (@sunjournal) August 17, 2018

Entries had to be submitted by 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 18. The winner will be notified by 6:00 p.m. The winner will be responsible for picking up the tickets at the Great Falls Balloon Festival Information booth.

Updated 5:49 a.m.: Perfect conditions for a balloon launch. We should see them get ready to launch soon. Stay tuned.

We’re waiting for the balloons to launch Friday morning at the Great Falls Balloon Festival at Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston.

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Stay tuned for updates and live video.

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