May the flight of the balloons be ever in our favor.
For hot air balloonists and those who love their enormous, colorful, engine-free contraptions, Labor Day weekend in Colorado Springs is a matter of will they or won’t they fly? Those who attend Colorado Springs Labor Day Lift Off in Memorial Park remain hopeful Mother Nature will be on her best behavior — cool, calm and collected — so the 70 or so balloons from around the world can rise in peace and float off into the ether.
Balloonmeister (actual title) Paul Petrehn is one of the boots on the ground people during the event. He helps determine if the weather is suitable and also does logistics with the Federal Aviation Administration to notify other aircraft within close proximity to the airport.
The ideal weather forecast reads like this: no rain or thunderstorms and, ideally, winds less than 10 mph with no storms within 100 miles, which can still impact wind conditions in the area.
Although Petrehn won’t be catching air this weekend, he’s well-versed in the sport and has ballooned professionally and competitively for almost three decades.
“It’s very refreshing to share it with people for the first time,” he said. “The smiles it puts on people’s faces of all ages and then you combine some of the more creative balloons, like the special-shaped ones, and helping coordinate the event safely and smoothly is a rewarding venture.”
The free event, put on by Hot Apple Productions and Colorado Springs Sports Corp., features balloon ascensions Saturday through Monday mornings from 7-9 a.m. and balloon glows at 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, where balloonists ignite their burners and inflate their balloons but stay grounded.
This year’s balloons will include some of those crowd-pleasing, specially shaped balloons, including Darth Vader and Yoda, which are based out of Belgium and get shipped to the U.S. for festivals. Chic-I-Boom, the Carmen Miranda-inspired balloon with fresh fruit, and Uncle Sam, the original specially shaped balloons, will be on hand, as well as the cheerful monster and classic Humpty Dumpty balloons.
In between ascensions and glows are performances by country singer Cody Cozz, rock and pop cover band SofaKillers, country band Winchester Road, rock band Missy and the Dirty Secrets, Air Force Academy’s Wings of Blue Skydiving Team, aerialists from Aerial Aura, performers from Red Herring Productions and more. Stand-up paddle boarding, food vendors and a beer garden also will be available.
And if riding in a balloon is on your must do list, Rainbow Ryders will offer $425 rides throughout the weekend.
Petrehn, who lives and operates a balloon business in Michigan, took his first ride at age 6 thanks to his balloonist father.
“They joke that once you get into a balloon for the first time you want to do it again or buy a balloon,” he said. “What’s special is trying to get people to take that next step in the sport. That happens quite often. You can start crewing and that turns into flight training and then a private pilot license turns into a commercial license.”
Petrehn, who owns two balloons and competes about a dozen times throughout the summer months every year, has scored three national championships in the U.S. Those wins allowed him to fly in world championships in locations such as Brazil, Japan, Dubai and Austria.
“It’s like a cloud,” he said about flying. “From the ground a cloud doesn’t look like it’s moving fast, just floating. Or you see a bird — when it flies effortlessly through the sky that’s what it’s like to fly in a balloon. You’re using weather elements and floating peacefully. It’s a different experience every time. I’ve been up thousands of times and I look forward to doing it every time.”
Local flight legend Dewey Reinhard founded the Colorado Springs Balloon Festival in 1976. It went on to become the Colorado Balloon Classic, then Labor Day Lift Off after changing hands in 2015.
This year’s event marks the first one since the recent death of its organizer, Scott Appelman, who also founded Rainbow Ryders.
He died last month in Phoenix. He’d been with the Lift Off since 2015.
“He had taken on the event with passion,” Petrehn said.
“He loved the Colorado Springs community. He’s put roots in place with opening his business here for Rainbow Ryders and continuing to put on this wonderful community event. And we’ll continue to keep going strong with it on his behalf.”
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