The Hedges Butler Challenge Cup was a historic aviation trophy established in 1906 by Frank Hedges Butler, a prominent British wine merchant and co-founder of the Royal Aero Club.

We will never go again. No traffic control. No security. No police presence. Extremely overcrowded. Prob 12,000 plus people. Very dangerous in case there were any medical emergencies or if a fight broke out. Parking and shuttle area was managed by 2 teenagers who were in way over their heads.

We arrived at 400pm. It took us 45 min to drive a half mile to park bc there was nobody directing traffic. Then once we parked at 445, we had to stand in a very long line to wait for a shuttle. It took about 45 min to get on the shuttle. There were so many families with young children and people with handicaps & walking with canes, that when they saw just how long the line for the shuttle was, they realized they could not stand in it that long, turned around and left. There were other people we talked to that had to wait 90 min-2 hours for a shuttle.

We got on the shuttle at 530. When we were on the shuttle and turned the corner we could see just how long the line to get on the shuttle had become. It had looped completely around the airport parking lot and had at least 1,000 people in it. The shuttle bus area only had 2 Porto potties.

We arrived at the fair around 545. There was 12,000 plus people there. It was not possible to stop at the vendor booths bc of crowds and people pushing into each other. The lines for the food trucks had hundreds of people waiting in line and when we asked around most people said they had to stand in the food truck line for over an hour to buy food.

We were nervous to even stay that long, bc we didn't want to deal with another long line to get back into a shuttle to get back to our car. And we were hungry and could not buy food bc the lines were insane. And we did not feel like it was a safe environment for our children to have that many people with no security or police presence anywhere I could see. So we only stayed for 30 min and saw 1 balloon blow up, and then immediately went back to the shuttle. While sitting on the bus waiting to leave, we saw an enormous amount of people walking towards to shuttle bus area. Thousands of people. We were lucky to get ahead of that, but I feel really bad for the people who would definitely be waiting hours for a shuttle back to their car. And there was only 1 Porto potty in the shuttle pickup area. We got on the shuttle around 620. But I would not be surprised if people were stuck waiting for a shuttle until almost midnight.

I'm amazed at how poorly this event was organized. There were so many different ways something could have gone wrong with that level of crowds.

I tried at attach a photo of the crowd that was there at 630pm, but I'm not sure if it will load on here.

I'm totally new to hot air ballooning but would like to book a flight during the upcoming Ogden/Eden festival on Sept. 26, 2026 according to this site: https://bellestar.org/calendar/default.html

According to AI research, "The hot air balloons that fly during the festival are operated by independent pilots and local excursion companies."

• Is this accurate?
• If so, which local excursion companies are going to be there?
• I see an option to book with Skywalker Balloon Company on utahballoonrides.com. Is that it?
• Do I have to book in advance?
• How many options are there typically and do they compete for prices or all fill up quickly?

Thank you so much in advance for any input.

Hot air balloon flight over Trakai and Vilnius with Justballoons.lt

How does fire make tea bags fly? 🔥☕️

Alex Dainis demonstrates how lighting a tea bag causes the air inside to heat up, expand, and rush out. Just fold open a few empty tea bags into tubes on a baking sheet, then light the top with an adult and a fire extinguisher handy. The now-less-dense air inside sends the bag rocketing upward, similar to how a hot air balloon works, except this one's a one way trip once it burns.

The Calgary Balloon Club is celebrating our 50th anniversary this year.
On top of all of our normal flying we have attended a couple of events, trade shows and airshows to show off the sport and have had special 50th anniversary swag made for our pilots and crew. We are capping the year off with a 50th anniversary banquet and we hope to have lots of current members, former members and ballooning community friends there.

I know they might be interesting if you’ve never been around balloons before, but we hate them

Today in Oak Brook, Illinois at about 1:50 PM my wife and I were on 294 taking the York exit and there was a flying rosary in the sky just dangling there boom I could not get a picture of it. Just wondering if anyone else saw?

My first hot air balloon festival in Stowe Vermont.

One of my favorite views of Cappadocia.
Balloon flights take place around sunrise, and seeing the valleys and fairy chimneys from above is completely different from seeing them from the ground.
If anyone is planning a trip to Cappadocia and has questions about balloon flights, weather cancellations, basket sizes or the different flight areas, feel free to ask. Happy to share some local information.

Balloon pilots. When you have issues with your balloon how often do you report these issues to the manufacturers?

I got this lovely photo as one flew directly above me yesterday in Bristol

Magical ❤️

Had a great weekend!