We were able to attend the Great Reno Balloon Race this year and it has been something I have wanted to do for many years in the past. This has been a Reno, NV tradition for over twenty years. They bill themselves as the largest free balloon festival in the nation. Yes, I said FREE! Free parking & admission. Hot beverage? Not so free. The morning of September 7 was a very brisk morning so the lines for hot chocolate and coffee were long. Not sure what a cup of joe cost but I’m sure it was worth it. I did see a vendor selling Funnel Cakes for $9. Holy smokes! About fifteen cents worth of batter boiled in hot oil and dredged into twenty-five cents worth of powdered sugar. Nine dollars!

They average over 140,000 visitors to this event and over 100 balloons take flight, some even before dawn. The event sponsors what they call the Worlds Largest Pajama Party for those who prefer to arrive the night before. We weren’t that brave and decided to drive to Reno early in the morning. Early? No insanely early. Left the house at 2:45am. Arrived in Reno some time around 5:00am. Found a (lucky) parking spot in the local neighborhood and followed the crowds of sleepy-eyed, soon to be balloon enthusiasts, in the pitch darkness of the morning to the park entrance. We arrived a little later than we planned. I was suppose to meet up with some other photographers but decided to head straight to the launch area. Good thing. The pre-dawn patrol were just firing up when we got there. What a sight.

What I loved about this event was the fact that you are able to be right on the “playing field”, so to speak. You are able to see first-hand how they setup, unpack, assemble and launch a rainbow of colors into the air. You have to take a look at a fellow photographers time-lapsed video of the Mass Acension:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtEu24wfcNI