Regional festivals are something we never think to include in our trip planning. It’s an ongoing blind spot of ours. Mostly we roll into town and discover that we missed an annual extravaganza by a couple of days or weeks. Unless, of course, the event happens to be the big Harley Davidson Rally in Sturgis, South Dakota. Apparently if it’s the kind of gathering that inspires news segments contrasting this year’s criminal violations with those of past rallies we show up just in time.
Our luck in these things isn’t always bad, though. In Yuma, Arizona, an equally colorful event of a completely different variety awaited us. Every November for the past 22 years hot air balloonists from around the region descend on Yuma for a weekend of floating and plumage flaunting. Without planning it, we somehow arrived in Yuma the Friday before liftoff.
Having barely missed the much larger Albuquerque Balloon Festival last year (as is our custom) we had never been to such an event. I didn’t really know what to expect. I imagined waking at dawn to watch a number of balloons take off from some respectable distance. The best I hoped for was to photograph a dozen or so balloons rising gently on a sunlit horizon. What we actually experienced was so much better.
Instead of watching the event from a roped off viewing area like we expected, Yuma allows visitors to mingle with the balloonists as they prepare their rides.
At first I wasn’t sure where I needed to be. While watching one balloonist fiddle with his gear, a giant bubble of blue and yellow started inflating behind me. Thinking I was missing the action, I hurried in that direction.
Before long, though, a half dozen other balloons started to inflate. Everywhere I looked billowing masses grew from the ground, jostled with each other for space, and surrounded me in a kaleidoscope of color.
And then, in no discernible order, they began to lift off. One by one they floated skyward like brightly colored champagne bubbles.
For something so serene, the whole episode was surprisingly chaotic. There was simply too much to see. Balloons of different colors and designs, in different stages of liftoff, constantly changed their shape and position. The entire visible world ebbed and flowed along the contours of pillowy fabric.
Later, with everyone safely returned to earth and daylight waning, there was one final show. This time, tethered to the ground and in a completely organized manner, burners were fired and balloons set aglow.
Everywhere Once 
It must have been such an awesome experience! Lovely:)
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What an amazing spectacle of colour!
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What a riot of color! This must have been really spectacular to see.
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Love the pictures!
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I visited a much smaller balloon festival in Connecticut years ago and would love to get to one of the large ones!
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Beautiful work!!
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Gorgeous set of images. I love the last shot. The brilliant colors against the night sky is stunning.
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Reblogged this on digger666 and commented:
Lucky Shannon and Brian. It was my thrill to witness the Albuquerque festival in 2003; by no stretch of the imagination is that the highlight of the local year.
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Great photos, guys! The nearest ballon festival to us is Bristol where one can get wonderful photos (weather permitting of course this is the UK!) over Brunel’s Clifton Suspension Bridge. http://www.photographersdirect.com/buyers/stockphoto.asp?imageid=3271942
My mum(75th) and sis(50th) are having a balloon ride as their shared birthday treat this spring taking off over the Cotswolds – we’ll be going along to take photos but don’t reckon our camera is a effective as yours:)
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Love balloon fests and you’ve captured this one beautifully! Thanks for sharing such gorgeous colors!
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I’ve been to several balloon fests and “the Glow” is definitely my favorite part! Great photos and post!
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Wonderful colors! Woww! Great pictures!
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Color makes me happy. Thanks.
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Gorgeous photos! Love all that glorious color!
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These balloons are beautiful! They look like so much fun and so colorful I love it!
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Gorgeous photos!
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I must go one of these years! It looks amazing!!
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Wow! ‘Champagne bubbles’…..love that! Thanks for showing me things I would not otherwise see!
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Wow! I want to go!
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Really gorgeous photographs… love the colour!
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What beautifully vibrant pictures! I completely agree- I never think to consider regional festivals, but every time I accidentally happen into one during my travels, I’m so glad I did. This stop in Yuma seemed particularly serendipitous!
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