After many events were canceled this year due to COVID-19, the Kiwanis Club of South Central Indiana wanted to find a safe way to have its annual balloon festival. Vanessa McClary is the club founder and president.
“We’ve taken several months of planning just to figure out a great way to still have a balloon fest, leave everyone in their cars and visit us at the fairgrounds,” McClary said.
The 8 th annual Kiwanis Indiana Balloon Fest will be held Saturday at the Monroe County fairgrounds as a drive-thru event. Attendees will be able to see more than 20 hot air balloons from the safety of their vehicles. Some balloons have special shapes including a sea horse, a cowboy and a racoon.
Kiwanis volunteer Justus Kelley will emcee several live events that will be streamed through the balloon fest’s Facebook page, including puppet shows, a talk with a hot air balloon pilot, a virtual hot air balloon ride, kite-making and a cooking class. Although it won’t be the same as the fair-like atmosphere of past balloon fests, virtual festivities have advantages.
“It’s a really, really cool opportunity to reach even more people than who the balloon fest has reached in the past,” Kelley said.
McClary said there is no admission fee this year to help families that may be facing economic hardship, but donations will be taken at the gate.
The balloon fest will have its traditional launch at 7:30 a.m. and balloon glow from 8 to 9 p.m.
