Thousands of people were disappointed as Saturday morning’s mass ascension got canceled as a light mist rained down nonstop over the launch field at Balloon Fiesta Park, already made soggy by a cloudburst on Friday evening.
Still, a number of pilots set their gondolas on the ground, periodically triggering the propane burners and letting loose a roaring plume of flame high into the air to the delight of visitors who had gathered around them.
Vendors remained quite busy as people began streaming in to the park as early as 4 a.m. But by 8 a.m., with the morning’s mass ascension canceled, a caravan of trucks, with balloon trailers and chase crews, began leaving the field. Although thousands of people also began exiting, many thousands of others remained to enjoy the vendor food and merchandise offerings, as well as a host of displays.
Still on the schedule for Saturday evening are balloon glow events, sky diving, an aerial drone light show and fireworks. The weather forecast calls for cloud cover and possible showers for the remainder of the day, and more of the same on Sunday.
