Starting Sept. 17, over 100,000 attendees and 40 hot air balloons attended the four-day festival at Oak Point Park. The Plano Balloon Festival’s roots go back to 1979. By 1980, Plano was declared the “Balloon Capital of Texas” by its then-governor. Plano has continued to hold this title by hosting the state’s largest hot air balloon festival year over year.
On Saturday morning, favorable winds directly out of the south allowed the aeronauts to take off and gently float northward at their discretion. Where the pilots would ultimately touch down was anybody’s guess.
Hot air ballooning is highly dependent on the weather conditions. Strong or unpredictable winds can make launch hazardous, especially for balloons with odd or creative shapes. A whole cast of characters including an off-brand green-hat-wearing “Larry Bear,” a pink unicorn and Tweety Bird made an appearance high above the heads of festival-goers on Saturday morning. By the evening and on Sunday morning, conditions had shifted enough that these balloons were not able to make safe lift off…