15th Annual
Atlantic Balloon Fiesta
schedulewasheldinSus-sex,New
Brunswick on its traditional weekend af-
terLaborDay-September8,9and10.
Thisyear therewere28balloonsregis-
tered for the event. The town of Sussex is
centrally located inthe province close to
themajorcitiesof Moncton,SaintJohn
and Fredericton, the provincial capital. It
is contained in a valley that is used prima-
rily for agriculture although some indus-
try has developed on the outskirts of Sus-
sex.
While Friday evening was the “offi-
cial” start to the event, the balloonists that
werealreadytherecouldnotresistthe
combinationofgoodweatherandgreat
scenery to do a flight on Friday morning.
Thistimeoftheyear,lowlyingfogis
prevalent and that was the case for each of
the morning flights throughout the week-
end.
Unfortunately high winds prevented
boththeflightandtheglowonFriday
evening. Saturday morning the conditions
wereidealtoflyfromanearbytown,
Lower Millstream. The direction allowed
most of the balloonists to fly over Sussex
andsomeweresuccessfulinflyingdi-
rectlyover the Fiesta groundstothe de-
light ofthe many spectators that had gath-
ered. Theremainder ofthedaythe tem-
perature was warmer than usual andthis
attractedevenmorespectatorsasthey
could examine a huge craft sale, live mu-
sic on the stage and a sky-diving demon-
stration that included Mr. and Mrs. Santa
out treats to all of the children!
The winds were of concern in the late
afternoon,butdissipatedrapidly.This
allowedmostof theballooniststocom-
pleteaflight-althoughitwasshortfor
some. Upon their return, conditions were
excellent for the glow as many spectators
waitedfor the eveningevent.
Sundaymorningbroughtaboutan-
other beautiful morning as the low-lying
fog created a very scenic setting to fly in.
For this launch all oftheballoons launched
fromthe Fiestagroundsandtherewasa
surprising numberof people thereto watch.
Conditions were ideal and some steerage
wasprevalentastheballoonsbeganto
a short period of time.
The successof the Atlantic Balloon
Fiesta was evident as numerous sites had
towels welcoming balloonists throughout
thecountryside.Manyballoonsactually
landed onsites that they been to in previ-
ous years. Such was the case for onegroup
ofballoonists;theywerenotonlywel-
comedbythelandowner andhisfamily
but thetraditional champagne celebration
alsoconsistedof animpromptumusical
interlude as the passengers were members
of a musical group that was touring in the
area. Suchis the hospitalityandthe fun-
lovingnature of the people from the Ca-
nadianMaritime province!
