SOMETHING FOR ALL AGES
Saratoga Balloon and Craft Festival offers plenty of fun
» The weather cleared just enough Saturday morning so most of the more than 30 hot air balloons at the Saratoga Balloon and Craft Festival could take off, pleasing pilots and passengers alike.
This is the third consecutive year the unusual mix of craft vendors and hot air balloonists have held the event at the Saratoga County Fairgrounds in Ballston Spa. The event started Friday afternoon and will continue through Sunday afternoon.
The balloon rides, which are fee-based, lift off only in the very early hours and at dusk. For those hoping to get close to a tethered one, it all depends on the weather. Todd Monahan of Lake George is the owner of SunKiss Ballooning. He knows first-hand how fragile the balloons are. He bought three this year bringing his company’s total to seven.
“I’m the balloonmeister,” he said. “It was a childhood dream of mine to just fly in a balloon. Once I finally flew in one, I wanted more so I began crewing for a guy. Then I took a training course in New Mexico to learn to fly them, got my LTA, lighter-than-air license, and bought one.”
Monahan works during the week as an alcohol and drug abuse counselor in Glens Falls. His enthusiasm for the sport is obvious as the smile on his face gets wider and wider the longer he talks about ballooning.
“Ballooning has taken me all over the world — Mexico, New Zealand, New Mexico — it’s just so much fun,” he said. “It’s always been my dream. I have been very fortunate to do what I love.”
One visitor to the Balloon and Craft Festival who came with his children from Utica just to see balloons like Monahan’s lion balloon “Simba”, was Hieu Nguyen. He knew before he left home that the flights take place only at dawn and dusk and came anyway.
“I brought my kids so they could see them,” he said smiling. “We’ll stay until tonight to see them.”
For those who missed the hot air balloons there were feebased helicopter rides. And for
those who came during the balloons off times, there were plenty of craft vendors, kids’ activities, entertainment like the High Flying Frisbee Dogs, and food vendors galore.
Sierra Conklin brought her son, Slater Connolly, 5, to the kids’ room for the magic act to get his face painted. Slater sat stoically while artist Laura Friedland-Kays put a Batman mask on his face.
“I brought Slater to see the balloons,” his mother said. “We’re going to stay to see them inflated.”
One of the vendors at the festival was muralist Martee Crowley. She manned a stall filled with her hand painted glass, onion lanterns. The colorful lanterns are lit with battery operated LED lights that stay on for six hours, go off, and light back up the following day at the same time.
“I switched from murals to these because I can’t lug the murals around with me,” Crowley joked.
A walk down one of the main streets in the Fairgrounds found baked goods likes cookies, breads and pies from Morning Star Pastries of Fort Plain and framed, painted, tin ceiling art from Ms. Annette and Dave.
“The tin is all from the 1860s to the early 1900s,” Ms. Annette said. “The wood for the frames is equally old. Most of the unique designs you see in the tin came from ceilings in opera houses, banks, theaters and music halls. Take a look at that one. You can see the angel that was part of that ceiling.”
One of the Fairgrounds’ covered pavilions was packed with vendors. Side by side there were vendors selling organic dog treats, handcrafted hand bags, hand-made wooden fire pit camp chairs, jewelry, and home decor woodworking products.
Making a purchase at the Potlicker Kitchen stand of Stowe, Vt., was Keegan Smith.
“It’s my mom’s birthday,” he said. “I’m living in Burlington and she’s in Herkimer. We decided this was about halfway so we decided to meet here. I saw this stand, sampled the cucumber jalapeno jam, and bought some. It’s tasty, plus I’m a Vermonter.”
The Saratoga Balloon and Craft Festival will be open Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The hot air balloons will lift off at 5:30 a.m., weather permitting.