FOLEY - With the 2021 Gulf Coast Hot Air Balloon Festival still fresh on your mind, you may not be thinking about next year’s festival quite yet. At the South Baldwin Chamber of Commerce, …
Gulf Coast Hot Air Balloon Festival ready for takeoff
Updated May 07, 11:20 AM;
Posted May 07, 10:58 AM
Balloons rise shortly after dawn on Friday, May 7, 2021, in a demonstration for the weekend s Gulf Coast Hot Air Balloon Festival.Lawrence Specker | LSpecker@AL.com
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“It’s a simple machine,” said Steve Stokoe. “Make it think it’s light, it goes up. Make it think it’s heavy, it goes down.”
Stokoe, 61, a retired firefighter from the Tampa area, was one of more than a dozen pilots setting up their hot air balloons just after sunrise Friday at OWA, the entertainment complex in Foley. Wet ground, of all things, had caused the cancellation of planned demonstration flights: Nobody wanted to land in a field turned into a marsh by recent heavy rains. A “static display” of tethered aerostats was designed to give onlookers a taste of what the annual Gulf Coast Hot Air Balloon Festival will offer this weekend.
Can’t Miss Alabama gives mom the celebrity treatment
By Shirley Jackson
Plan an unbelievable day for Mom at the Gulf Coast Hot Air Balloon Fest.
Mother’s Day Smoothie and Flowers Drive May 7
In honor of Mother’s Day, Regency Retirement Village in Birmingham will host a free drive-thru featuring free smoothies and flowers. Smoothie choices include mango, pina colada and a variety of other fruity treats. The staff will be wearing masks and gloves. The drive-thru is a “contactless” event. Be served in your car Friday, May 7, between 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. The venue is at 285 West Oxmoor Road. For more information, call 205-942-3355.
Professional hot air balloon pilots from all over the country will gather May 7-9 for the Gulf Coast Hot Air Balloon Festival in Foley. Now in its 17th year, the weekend event expects to draw 100,000 visitors to its new setting at OWA amusement park.
“We love the Gulf Coast area. We love the town of Foley,” said Tom Warren, a balloon pilot based in Pasco County, just north of Tampa. “The people that put on the event are absolutely awesome people.”
Warren will be piloting his shaped balloon “Laska the Unicorn” along with dozens of other invited balloonists.
“We do it for the crowds, for the fun of it,” he said. “Because it’s a unicorn the kids go nuts.”
Did You Know About Alabama s Hot Air Balloon Festival?
As a new Alabamian, I ve been consistently finding new things to do in the Yellowhammer state. Have you ever been on a hot air balloon?
One of my favorite episodes of Family Matters is the hot air balloon episode. I thought that was the closest I d ever get to one. Well now, thanks to some searching online, I found a hot air balloon festival right here in Alabama!
If you want to see some hot air balloons enjoy great food vendors and good music, take a day trip to Foley. That s where the 17th annual Gulf Coast Hot Air Balloon Festival will be held.