On June 15, 2016

Heads up!

Quechee Balloon Festival
John Stritzinger won first place in the 2015 balloon fest photo contest for this eclipse shot.

By Paul Holmes and John Stritzinger

Quechee Balloon Festival colors the sky Father’s Day weekend

The skies over Quechee and the Upper Valley of Vermont and New Hampshire will be filled with hot air balloons ushering in the 37th annual Quechee Hot Air Balloon, Craft & Music Festival, the longest running hot air balloon festival in New England, over Father’s Day Weekend, June 17, 18, and 19. Don’t miss this exciting festival featuring up to 20 hot air balloons with five flights scheduled throughout the festival and additional tethered rides during the day. Enjoy continuous music and entertainment for all ages, and over 60 craft artisans and commercial vendors. Children’s activities include the free Kid’s Zone with Euro Bungee, a rock climbing wall, bounce house and more. There will be festival food plus local healthy options and a beer and wine garden, with more surprises on site.

Gates open Friday at 3 p.m. at the Quechee Gorge Visitor Center, 5966 Woodstock Road, Quechee. Gates will reopen at 5:30 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday, with the first morning balloon ascensions taking flight at 6 a.m. Evening ascensions take place all three days at 6 p.m. Balloon rides are weather dependent.

The entertainment line-up is an impressive one, featuring music acts such as Billy Wylder, Coniption Fits, Juke Joynt, James Mee, Party Crashers, and Amy & the Engine; plus dancer’s corners; “Pups in the Air;” jumping parachute demos from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday; a VINS presentation; clowning shows; balloon glows at dusk Friday and Saturday; and more. See the full schedule of events in the calendar of events in this paper, or online at quecheeballoonfestival.com.

Admission is $15 for adults and age 13+; kids age 6-12 are $5; and age 5 and under are admitted free. Admission is good for the entire weekend and includes festival parking. Admission does not include balloon rides, which can be purchased online or during the festival.

Do you want to submit feedback to the editor?

Send Us An Email!

Related Posts

Two members, including chair, resign from the Commission on the Future of Public Education in Vermont

June 25, 2025
By Corey McDonald/VTDigger Two members of the Commission on the Future of Public Education in Vermont, including the commission’s chair, announced last week they would be resigning, saying they no longer believed their efforts would make any impact. Meagan Roy, the chair of the commission, and Nicole Mace, the former representative of the Vermont School Boards…

Vt plastic bag use dropped 91% following ban, researchers find

June 25, 2025
In the midst of 2020 Covid measures, another change took place in Vermont: A law went into effect banning businesses from offering plastic bags to customers, with paper bags only available for a fee. A 2023 analysis of a survey of hundreds of Vermonters found the law appeared to have worked. Plastic bag use in…

Plan to manage 72,000 acres of the Telephone Gap project is finalized

June 25, 2025
Staff report The U.S. Forest Service issued its final plan for managing 72,000 acres of public and private land on June 16. The proposed Telephone Gap Integrated Resource Project area is located on the Green Mountain National Forest (GMNF) within the towns of Brandon, Chittenden, Goshen, Killington, Mendon, Pittsfield, Pittsford, and Stockbridge. “The Telephone Gap project is…

Killington residents push for skate park as town reimagines recreation future 

June 25, 2025
By Greta Solsaa/VTDigger As Killington celebrates the 50th anniversary of its recreation center, some residents are pushing to make a skate park a new permanent fixture of the town’s summer offerings.  The town crafted its recreation master plan to holistically determine how to best use its resources to serve residents in the future, Recreation Department Director Emily Hudson…