Hot Air Balloon Festival Takes To The Skies Over Tupelo

TUPELO, MISS. (WCBI) – Hot air balloon pilots from across the southeast spent their Labor Day weekend in the All America City for a high flying festival.

Before the balloons take flight, crew members unfurl the balloon, also called an envelope, , attach the wicker basket, with propane canisters, and fill the balloon with cool air from a fan.

For this Labor Day Liftoff, the hot air balloons ascended from Veteran’s Park, and headed northwest.

The pilots are at the mercy of the wind, but they control the altitude with propane blasts.

Frank Anger is pilot of his balloon, called “America.” He has been a hot air balloon pilot for 25 years and organized this event, known as FLABR fest.

“It’s called Frank’s Labor Day Annual Balloon Race,” Anger explained.

Eleven hot air balloon pilots from across the southeast took part in this year’s festival. For Frank Anger, seeing people’s reactions to the balloons is worth all the effort.

“The smile on their faces, and the different people who say I’ve always wanted to do this, they get a chance to do it and it’s something they always remember,” Anger said.

He also enjoys flying over the countryside, and bringing his balloon down to skim over soybean fields.

“It never gets old,” Anger said.

One person described ballooning as the closest thing to flying like a bird, but easier, because there’s not as much work.

Another pilot compared hot air ballooning to good theater.

“It’s performing, that’s what I like about it, if you got a good pilot and good balloon, everything is safe, and looked after , it’s the most wonderful experience in the world, as far as I’m concerned,” said Martin Booda, pilot of “Gravity’s Rainbow’ balloon.

A good chase crew is also important. Crew members follow the balloon on the ground, and are waiting at the landing zone, in the parking lot of Scruggs Farm Lawn and Garden.

Once on the ground, passengers help roll the balloon back up, putting it into a storage bag, so it’s ready to take to the skies the next time.

Hot air ballooning is the first successful human carrying flight technology. The first untethered manned hot air balloon flight took place in Paris in 1783.