15th Annual Bluff Hot Air Balloon Festival

[Bluff-Canyoneer]

Just wrapped up the annual hot air balloon festival here in Bluff. It was a great event with three launch dates, Fri. and Sat. in Bluff, and on Sun. everyone's favorite: the Valley of the Gods.
Here is some video footage of the event.

Launching from my front yard in Bluff:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-va0lrsQwQ

Launching from the Valley of the Gods:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCMvJ9FQI4M

and some GoPro footage from the Valley of the Gods:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77DLRgXVBHU

[Sombeech]

Great stuff! So do you own a balloon?

[Bluff-Canyoneer]

Great stuff! So do you own a balloon?

No. The wife and I help sponsor the event and in return get to "crew" (help set up and take down the balloon for a pilot). We usually get several "hops" in during the event and always hope to get a ride in the Valley of the Gods.

[Rob L]

Great videos! A UK friend of mine used to partake of the Alberquerque Balloon Fest (even taking his own balloon from the UK); he's retired now.

Here we have the annual Bristol Balloon fest and Northampton Balloon fest. Both great events to watch, over 100 balloons!

The scenery is much better over your side of the pond of course.

I'm not convinced about going up in one, however!

[accadacca]

Very cool! :popcorn:

[Bluff-Canyoneer]

The 16th annual Bluff hot air ballon festival will be held Friday-Sunday, January 17-19 in little Bluff, Utah. Flights are at sunrise, so get up early. There is usually a tailgate party at Sand Island after the flights.

This is a great event for taking pictures and entertaining kids. The Glow-In on Saturday night takes place at the Bluff Community Center and some pilots will allow kids in the cockpit and let them pull the gas valve for a huge jet of flame. If you scroll to the top of this thread, I have some GoPro video from last year's event.

The Sunday flight in Valley of the Gods is a memorable experience.

For you canyoneers, there are even some (very short) slot canyons right above the town.

Map to Community Center: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=bluff,+ut&hl=en&ll=37.285319,-109.556615&spn=0.000993,0.002064&sll=35.181208,-111.607959&sspn=0.261247,0.528374&hnear=Bluff,+San+Juan+County,+Utah&t=h&z=20

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