High River Council backs return of balloon festival

The quest to host another hot air balloon festival in High River, Alberta got a boost from town council, which voted to support the event with $5,000 in funding.

It was welcome news for Jamie Kinghorn, a co-organizer of the 2013 event and the driving force behind this year’s initiative, who already has hot air balloon pilots on board and anticipating a return to the town.

Kinghorn presented the possibility of hosting a 2014 balloon festival in High River at the Jan. 27 meeting of council. The prospect that received warm words of support from councillors, including Mayor Craig Snodgrass, who expressed a desire to see the event held annually.

At Monday’s meeting, Kinghorn requested sponsorship of $5,000 from the Town of High River, which councillors approved unanimously.

The funds, matching the amount the town contributed to the 2013 event, will go a long way to reaching the total amount of sponsorship needed, said Kinghorn.

“The money’s a big part of the budget,” he said. “I’m looking at about a $30,000 budget, so this is a big share of it.”

With council’s support, Kinghorn and his organizing team will now begin securing other local sponsorships needed to make the event a go.

During the 2013 Canadian Hot Air Balloon Championships hosted in High River, 20 pilots competed for the top honours of the event, while others from around the world held “fiesta flights” for spectators, including Michel Lambert, who pilots an internationally recognized replica of Darth Vader’s mask.

Because the 2014 event will not be a Canadian Championship, there will be some slight differences over last year, explained Kinghorn. One example is that launch sites for each of the pilots will be centralized, making it easier for spectators to see balloons take off.

The money from town council will go towards the community Balloon Glow, where the participating pilots congregate in an open field and light their flames, filling the sky with globes of colour.

If all goes according to plan, the 2014 High River balloon event will be held the same weekend as Alberta Culture Days and the annual Show & Shine car event on Sept. 26-28.

“You combine all of those things together and we can have a really big celebration in High River every fall,” said Kinghorn. “It’s the right time.”

via – High River Times.