Balloon Festival

Spirit of Boise Balloon Festival http://www.peakbroadcasting.com/pages/spirit_of_boise_main Click to enlarge. Click to enlarge. Most years, there is a balloon festival in the park next to my apartment. There are some trees in the way preventing me from watching the filling up, but otherwise I can watch the balloons from my balcony. Above is a picture of some balloons being filled. They let people watch from up close. One festival, while standing around watching, someone asked whether I wanted to help on a crew. So I helped fill a balloon, chase it across town, and pack it up again. It was fun and interesting. Maybe you should try it sometime. Above, you can see the target they set up for a competition. Boise has "box winds" that blow different directions at different heights. So balloons can drift away and then back to try to toss a marker onto the red 'X' that is surrounded by port-a-potties. Click to enlarge. Click to enlarge. One of the evenings during the festival, they put on a night show. The balloons can not fly at night, but they fill them and use the burners to light them up from the inside. It is pretty impressive.   Click to enlarge. Click to enlarge.     Click to enlarge. Click to enlarge.