Hot air balloons to speckle the skies over Shreveport-Bossier

The July skies over Shreveport and Bossier City will soon be dotted with orbs of color as the Delta Utilities Red River Balloon Rally returns to Louisiana Downs on Friday and Saturday, July 18-19. The festivities will begin at 5:00 p.m. Tickets are $5 at the gate, with children aged 5 and under admitted free of charge. Parking is free as well.

This will be the ninth edition of the family-friendly Balloon Rally, which is put on by the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission. Previous rallies were held on the Louisiana State University-Shreveport campus; however, the Louisiana heat and humidity deterred some people from attending. The Rally was moved two years ago to the Downs, with its air-conditioned interior.

“Essentially, the Balloon Rally started because of the Louisiana State Ballooning Championship,” said Alex Einerson, director of marketing and communications for the Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau. “We host that ballooning championship right here in Shreveport-Bossier, and that is where some of the nation’s best ballooning pilots come in and compete for the title of state champion. The competition itself takes place on Saturday and Sunday morning, but to celebrate it on Friday and Saturday, they put on the Balloon Rally.”

The Red River Ballon Rally is a family-friendly event.

Some pilots will offer tethered balloon rides.

So, what does the Balloon Rally offer?

As you enter, you will be greeted by vendors from the Bossier City Farmers’ Market. Further along is a stage for live music as well as a Kids’ Zone. The hot-air balloons, belonging to some two dozen balloon pilots, will be located outside on the apron at the Downs. Balloons of all colors, patterns and even characters will be seen in the skies, depending on the weather.

“There’s really something for everybody,” Einerson said. “There are drink carts where you can get beer and soda. There’s an area where you can sit inside and view from the windows of Louisiana Downs, or you can go right up next to the balloons and check them out and talk to the pilots.”

Some pilots offer tethered balloon rides for $25 per person, weather permitting. “You can actually get in a balloon and go up about 20 feet in the air,” she said, adding that the pilots are very safe in what they do, keeping the public’s safety in mind, as even a 10-mile-per-hour wind can ground a hot-air balloon.

A Kids’ Zone will offer inflatable bounce houses, mini-balloons and a simulated archaeological dig.

Balloons will be located on the apron at Louisiana Downs, complete with live entertainment.

Entertainment on Friday night features DJ Yoshi and Reputation, a Taylor Swift tribute band, while Selena impersonator Amanda Solis will entertain on Saturday, along with Tailgate Poets.

One of the highlights of the Rally is the nightly Balloon Glow, starting at 8:11 p.m. on both nights. The balloons are illuminated from within by the propane burners that heat the air inside, creating a dazzling display of color and flames. “An announcer does a countdown, there’s music playing, the balloons will kind of dance to the music in a way, so the pilots will all trigger the fires on their balloons, which cause their balloon to glow in the dark. And it’s really an incredible thing to see, especially with the music playing. It makes it feel like it’s kind of like Christmas lights. The balloons are dancing to the music,” said Einerson.

A fireworks display will follow each Balloon Glow.

There will be plenty to eat at the rally.

But the true purpose of the rally is the state ballooning championship, which has been hosted locally for the past nine years. A target is set up into which the pilots strive to toss what is essentially a sandbag. “So they’ve got to be very precise in the way that they are piloting their balloons so that they can get as directly on top of that target as possible,” she said.

The target drops are held in the early mornings when winds are calm. “They’re very precise with the weather, and they have all of these tricks that they’ll figure out which way the wind is blowing and what speed it’s blowing at,” she said. “They’re very good at what they do.”

Although it’s not part of the Balloon Rally itself, the pilots will also participate in a sort of mini-rally called Balloons Over DeSoto at C.E. “Rusty” Williams Airport in Grand Cane, La.

The Balloon Rally has been successful the last two years because of its partnership with Louisiana Downs. “They’ve been an extremely strong partner for us as has the Tourist Bureau and the Sports Commission, and so they’ve allowed elements to really grow where people can get up close to those balloons. And they made it easy access because they actually built a bridge for you to get over the turf racetrack because it’s racing season,” Einerson said.

The restaurants and concession stands inside the Downs, as well as food trucks, will also be available for visitors to the Rally.

Why is the Red River Balloon Rally so popular? “I think the hot-air balloons in themselves are just a fascinating piece of entertainment that we have in the area. Not everywhere has access to see hot-air balloons like we do. And then again, just the magical nature of when they do the Balloon Glow and the way that that’s really an incredible element for all ages, so when you’re very small, it’s magical to see that, but even as an adult, it’s very cool when you can understand how incredibly difficult they are to even get up in the air. When you get next to them, you’ll feel like they’re way larger than you ever realized.”