Coshocton Hot Air Balloon Festival Planned for June 5-7
For more than 40 years, the Coshocton Hot Air Balloon Festival has been held at the county fairgrounds. This year, the festival will be Thursday through Saturday, June 5-7. This is a free event thanks to local sponsors.
The festival will include kiddie rides, food vendors, craft booths, musical entertainment, children’s activities, fireworks, night glow and hot air balloon launches.
The midway and vendors will open at 4 p.m. on Thursday and from 4-9 p.m. there is a wristband special of $15 for the kiddie rides. Tethered balloon rides will be available from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. for $20, which will be donated to the FPC Community Connections Fund. A balloon launch will take place at 7 p.m.
On Friday, the midway will open at 11 a.m. with the opening ceremony at 5:45 p.m. At 6 p.m., Music by Seventy80, presented by Standard Power, will be featured on the stage. A balloon launch will be at 6:45 p.m. with the balloon night glow at 9:15 p.m. The balloons will fill with air and be lit up for the night glow.
The pilot’s will choose where to launch from Saturday morning at 6:30 a.m. Tethered rides will be available from 7-8:30 a.m. and the midway will open at 11 a.m. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., a wristband special will be available and there will be a safety, and skills showcase. COSI activities will be happening from noon to 4:30 p.m.
Free trading cards will be handed out during the “Meet the Pilots” event from 4:45 – 5:45 p.m., presented by the Ohio Laborers Union. More music, Aftermath, will begin at 6:30 p.m. and is presented by Standard Power. The final balloon launch will be at 6:45 p.m. that evening with fireworks at 10 p.m. The fireworks show is sponsored by Kraft/Heinz.
The festival committee wants everyone to understand that all times with balloon launches are approximate and are weather dependent. Even if the weather is nice at the fairgrounds, the pilots must consider incoming weather. Safety is always the first consideration when making the decision about whether to launch or not. The tethered balloon rides are also weather dependent.
Follow the balloon festival Facebook page for updates about launches.
Sponsors of the balloon festival include The Frontier Power Company, Standard Power, Kraft Heinz, Frontier Propane and the Ohio Laborers Union. Friends of the Festival are Coshocton City Fire Department, Coshocton Coffee Connection, Coshocton County EMS, Coshocton County CVB, Coshocton County Recycling and Litter Prevention, Domino’s Pizza, H & R Block, Jackson Twp. Fire Department, Kimble Companies, Nelson Builders, Pearl Valley Cheese, Peddicord Rice Lepage Auction/Reality, Three Rivers Fire District and Warsaw Lions Club.
