High Hopes Balloon Co.

BALLOON FESTIVAL GROUNDED FOR 2020 The Board of Directors of the Adirondack Balloon Festival is disappointed to share that this year’s event scheduled to be he...ld September 17th to the 20th will be cancelled. The most important part in planning in an event of this magnitude is safety. Safety is not only for our balloon pilots, but also includes our spectators, law enforcement, public works, fire and rescue staff, vendors, volunteers, musical acts, and our landowners in the region. This is an unprecedented decision for us and one we did not take lightly. Our decision process included discussions with state officials and the Federal Aviation Administration officials as well. This event is for the community by the community. We have a responsibility to make certain social distancing occurs and we do not feel we could make that happen with the tens of thousands of people who attend our event. said Mark Donahue, President of the Festival’s Board of Directors. In addition, we felt it was inappropriate of us to ask local businesses for support when they are struggling to reopen or survive. Putting the event on pause for a year will help us to come back in 2021 and have guidelines established by New York State in place for events of our magnitude to provide a safe, enjoyable event for all to enjoy. Our Board is already looking ahead to 2021, Donahue adds. With funding being a serious concern for the future, the Festival hopes to embark on some fundraising activities this fall to help support 2021. The dates for the 2021 Adirondack Balloon Festival will be September 23-26th, 2021. ABF STRONG - COVID MAY HAVE GROUNDED US, BUT OUR SPIRITS WILL STILL SOAR!!!! #ABFSTRONG

COVID-19 UPDATE: The safety of our passengers, crew and spectators remains our first priority. We are not scheduling flights until we know social distancing restrictions will be lifted and when we may fly with normal operations without fear of spreading the virus to others. When that happens, we will continue to only offer private flights for two passengers in the basket with your COVID-19-free pilot. Until then, we’re happy to talk with you about ballooning for any reason! Stay well!

Great weekend with a great sponsor!

Here we come. Looks like great weather. Come say hello if you are near Glens Falls!

Yes, we will be at the New York State Festival of Balloons in Dansville Labor Day Weekend....they haven't updated thier website with the attending pilots, but we'll be there. Check www.nysfob.com for more info.

Happy to be adding The Great Wellsville Balloon Festival to our summer event calendar. Check out the other events we plan to attend at www.highhopesballoon.com

We'll soon be dusting off the truck, getting the balloon inspected for the year and scheduling our first flights. Also hope to get to a couple additional festivals this summer. Who's up for crewing? Have some need at some of the rallies too if you can come on a road trip.

One of our most memorable flights this year. Congratulations to Megan and Kevin!

From the SpiedieFest in Binghamton this weekend. Bidu is a new balloon from Brazil.

Friends in the Rochester area, if you're near a TV tomorrow morning (Tuesday June 5), check out "Good Day Rochester", the morning show on 13 WHAM ABC (6am) and ...Fox Rochester WUHF (7-9am). We'll be on hand at Genesee Country Christian School for a school program, specially adapted to generate live shots for the morning show throughout the morning. Some call June 5th "Hot air balloon Day", so what better way to celebrate?! (Thanks to Greg Livadas of High Hopes Balloon Co. for the referral. Lots of people young and old will be introduced to ballooning tomorrow thanks to you. Should be fun!) See more

Here's a video from our friend, Ian Auch, who tagged along with our crew recently to capture what we do. It's a great video, and a good illustration of the work our indespensable crew do on each flight. Want to join the crew? We're always glad to have new crew members join the fun. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V2uhIa2mtE

Great shots of the balloon glow at the Adirondack Balloon Festival. Thanks to photographer Brian Evans!

Thanks to our great sponsor, Adirondack Winery!

That's our sponsor!