Park Citys Autumn Aloft Hot Air Balloon Festival will return after a 20 year hiatus. The last Autumn Aloft Hot Air Balloon Festival took place in Park City in the fall of 1994. The Festival, which started in the early 1980s, attracted more cars and people then Park City could handle at the time. Meisha Lawson, spokeswoman for the festival, describes the event "It's something thats unexplainable when the balloons kind of start to float, you get this feeling inside of you that just brings everything miraculous about what hot air balloons are and just...you can't help but smile and be delighted". It was a victim of its own success, one balloonist told The Park Record. There wasnt a way for people to control all the traffic that was coming up from Salt Lake City, and since the festival really only took place in three hours, the congestion got bad and overwhelmed the Park Meadows residents. Park City is much more equipped for such an event today, there are regulations and guidelines in place now to ensure everything runs smoothly. The festival will take place at the North 40 Fields, located directly behind Park Citys Treasure Mountain Middle School. Once we identified the fields and began talking with Park City Municipal, we then went door-to-door to contact residents in that area to get their permissions and blessings to host the balloon festival, Lawson said. We did this because we want everyone in the community to love this event and didnt want anyone to feel like we had been disrespectful to them or their homes and neighborhoods. There are many parking places at Park City High School, Treasure Mountain Junior High and McPolin Elementary School to accommodate the event. China Bridge Parking in Old Town will also be available with the first busses leaving the Transit Center at 7:19 a.m. so people can arrive at the festival by 7:30 a.m. People who liver near by are encouraged to bike or walk. There will be 17 balloons total. Well have six balloons inflating at a time and that will make three sets of six that will take off at one time, which will prolong the event, Lawson said. We want spectators to kind of be in the middle of the action and interact with the balloonists. Event Schedule:Saturday, Sept. 20 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. - Balloon launch, North 40 Fields 8:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. - Main Street glow. An inflated hot-air balloon will be anchored at the Marsac Building, 445 Marsac Ave. Sunday, Sept. 21 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. - Balloon launch, North 40 Fields
