The Mountaineer Balloon Festival is an annual event held at Hart Field, the Morgantown airport. It is held in October on a open date on the WVU Football Schedule, so everyone in the area can attend (and usually does at some point, if only by watching them float by). It's not as big as the more famous festivals, but with 40 or more balloons, it's still quite a sight to see. The balloons against the fall foliage on the mountains of West Virginia make it one of the most photogenic events around. They also have a lot of other events - a carnival, petting zoo, wagon rides, exhibits, and so on - but the mass ascensions are my favorite part. I've been attending the festival every year since 1989, and here are some of the photos I've taken over the years (most are around 30 to 50K):
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"Banner" 1989 |
"Fun One" 1995 |
Over the hills of West Virginia 1990 |
Inflating the bag. 1990 |
"Mountain Mama" 1994 |
Looking up 1996 |
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| Thirty-six balloons 2000 |
Many balloons 2000 |
