Get up early. The balloon action starts with the rising sun on 7/11/2025. Photographers, in the old days I would have said “bring a lot of film!” Boulder’s neighbor Erie (in both Boulder and Weld Counties) holds a yearly balloon festival. You can wander around the action close enough to feel the blasts of heat […]

Ballooning starts early. Light was just breaking (mostly in my imagination) when baskets are already being lowered from the back of pickup trucks. Teamwork and cooperation are essential. Balloons are unloaded, laid out on the ground, and filling begins. The main body of balloon-filling air initially is supplied by large powerful fans run on generators. […]