On the Town: Firelake Balloon Fest draws crowds despite weather delays

Thirty-five years ago, Oklahoma City resident James Bowman took a hot air ballooning class at a local college with a friend.

He was hooked and has been taking balloons up into the sky ever since, and his knowledge of the sport runs deep.

Last week, he was in Shawnee to be part of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation’s Firelake at Fireflight Balloon Fest, which thousands attended over its two days. That morning, he was ready along with other balloon pilots to go up for an early morning balloon ride across Oklahoma skies as it kicked off. He was supposed to take me with him as a member of the media, but the weather had other plans that early in the day.

“Well, Mother Nature, she's in control of it. Sometimes you can get three or four fights a weekend, and sometimes you might go about two months” between rides, Bowman said.

Thunderstorms were developing all around that morning, and the high winds in the upper atmosphere were making the conditions unsafe. Chris Sabia was “balloonmeister” for the event through the company Kansas City AeroSports, a role that requires him to pay close attention to the weather and other factors. He made the final call not to go up due to weather.

A little later, even though they couldn’t go flying right then, Bowman and a handful of others out at the festival at sunrise set up their balloons temporarily for the crowds that were already gathering for the Citizen Potawatomi Nation’s balloon festival. It was fun to watch and fun to visit with the balloon pilots as they got set up.

In addition to Mother Nature, you can’t control your flight path once you take off, Bowman said as he prepared. Sometimes he’s landed in fields where the landowner called in local law enforcement over the balloon that dropped down. Other times, he has landed in such a remote location that the chaser vehicles can’t get to the balloon riders, so they have to carry out their own equipment on foot.

Attendance numbers weren’t immediately available, but the weather cleared up for balloons to take off throughout the weekend the photos that people shared on social media were spectacular.

Last year, the festival drew 20,000 people in spite of rainy weather all weekend, said Kent Bush, director of public information for the Citizen Pottawatomi. Two years ago, 50,000 people from all over showed up for the event.

Those who didn’t go up in the balloons enjoyed live music concerts from the headliner, country music artist Cam Allen, and other featured artists, including Levi Platero and Adam Aguilar and Midnight South, and a drone show, 5k race, carnival rides and a vendor market.

I wish I could have gone up in the balloon with Bowman and also gotten back to Shawnee to enjoy the rest of the festival. Just seeing the colorful and impressive balloons set up on the ground was so much fun. To attend next year, follow the FireLake BalloonFest on social media.

Have an idea, item or event for On the Town? Email lillie.beth@yahoo.com.

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