Annual Harvest Balloon Festival
When: 3-9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15, and 7-9:30 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 16
Where: Sterling on the Lake, 7004 Lake Sterling Blvd., Flowery Branch
Cost: $2 admission; individual activities required separate tickets
More info: www.harvestballoonfestival.com
Visitors to the Harvest Balloon Festival will have a chance to get a birds-eye view of Flowery Branch on two consecutive days in October.
Balloonists will offer hot-air balloon rides during the annual event at Sterling on the Lake. Tethered balloon rides will be from 5:30-9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15. The following day, a regular balloon ride will begin at 8 a.m. and more tethered balloon rides from 8-9:30 a.m.
Tethered balloon rides will be offered, weather permitting, on a first-come, first-served basis. Tickets are $15, but only cash is accepted. Hot-air balloon riders will be lifted 40 feet into the sky and stay attached to the ground via tether lines.
A limited number of participants can take part in a hot-air balloon ride, soaring high above North Georgia’s fall colors and the festival. Cost is $250 per person credit card or cash. Tickets must be purchased in advance by calling 770-967-9777.
Other family-friendly activities will occur for participants remaining on the ground from 3-9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15. Activities include children’s games, zip lines, pumpkin painting and festival rides. In all, more than 50 booths from craft vendors to attractions to event sponsors will be on site.
On Sunday, Oct. 16, only balloon rides will be offered from 8-9:30 a.m. Riders must arrive at 7 a.m.
Biscuits will be available for cash purchase. And spectators are welcome to watch the balloons rise and descend.
Admission is $2 but activity tickets must be purchased separately. Proceeds will benefit two area charities.
“It’s a family festival open to the public that is an event that also benefits the Hall County Animal Shelter and Challenged Child and Friends,” said Jennifer Landers, vice president of operations at Sterling on the Lake, which hosts the festival.
Landers said the two charities were chosen because they local-based entities in Hall County that appeal to different families. The neighborhood at Sterling on the Lake is also very pet-friendly, Landers said.
The festival, now in its seventh year, started as a way to give back to the community and showcase Sterling on the Lake’s community.
“It was different, there were not very many balloon festivals around the country at the time,” Landers said, indicating why organizers started the hot-air balloon festival.