2013 Hot Air Festival ready to begin

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

It’s time for the second edition of the Van Wert Hot Air Festival and organizer Jerry Mazur says this year’s event will be even better than last year.

“What we’re hoping for is a banner year,” Mazur said, adding, “The weather appears to be good.”

The festival unofficially begins today with balloon rides for special-needs area residents at the Van Wert County Regional Airport — an event Mazur said is one of his favorites of the festival.

“We’re able to give some special-needs residents a balloon they may never get the opportunity for in their lives and that’s a payday for me,” Mazur said. “That’s what it’s all about for me.”

He estimated that 200 people could be at the airport this evening for the special-needs balloon rides. Part of the cost of that event was paid for by a grant from the national Elks organization.

Of course, hot air balloons are the main draw for the festival, and Mazur said there would be 17 balloons coming for this year’s Hot Air Festival, including two special shapes, the Post Sugar Bear that was here last year and a POW/MIA balloon.

“All the balloons are beautiful in their own right, with their own special markings,” Mazur added.

Of special interest is this year’s Dawn Patrol pre-dawn balloon launches on Saturday and Sunday morning. Mazur said there would be a balloon glow at 5:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, with balloons to launch, weather permitting, at 6:13 a.m. Saturday and 6:14 Sunday morning.

Other balloon launches are scheduled for 7:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, 6 p.m. Friday (as part of the opening ceremonies for the festival), and at the same time on Saturday evening. There will also be balloon “glows” on Friday and Saturday evenings, starting at approximately 8:15.

This year’s festival will officially begin at 5:30 p.m., with a flag-bearing sky jumper, along with tethered balloon rides and a balloon launch at 6 p.m., weather permitting, in front of the grandstand (click here for a full schedule of events).

Getting up to watch those pre-dawn balloon launches can also save festivalgoers some money, Mazur added. This year, the HAF will feature an Early Bird Special, with those who come out for the festival between 5 and 10 a.m. able to purchase an all-day pass for $5 — half off the regular $10 charge for daily passes.

“Local people can come out for the pancake breakfast provided by the Main Street folks and the Optimists, buy their armbands for $5; it’s an all-day pass, they can go home and take a break, come back and enjoy the whole show for five bucks,” Mazur said.

The good thing about the passes, he added, is that the cost covers nearly all the events and activities of the festival, with the exception of food, some children’s rides and a couple of other activities.

Special entertainment this year will be provided by Todd Allen Herendeen, who was scheduled to perform last year but got rained out, along with a number of other free entertainment acts over the length of the festival. Herendeen will perform in front of the grandstand, while free entertainment, including a German band, will perform in the Brew Ha-Ha Biergarten.

In addition to the pancake breakfast from 7-11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, which is sponsored by Main Street Van Wert and the Van Wert Optimist Club, there will be a spaghetti supper hosted by the Peony Festival Committee from 5-7 p.m. Friday, and a barbecue dinner prepared by the Van Wert Firefighters Association from 4-7 p.m. Saturday.

There also be a number of events and activities for youngsters, including a 4-H/National Rifle Association rifle range firearms safety seminar in the Junior Fair Building, pony rides, four amusement rides (for a nominal additional fee), balloon sculpting, radio-controlled airplanes, a McDonald’s-sponsored coloring contest, local Farm Bureau-sponsored tractor driving “Kids Dream Day” in the grandstand infield, and a number of other games and rides.

The festival will also offer helicopter rides; a non-denominational church service on Sunday, featuring the music of Trinity; a spectacular fireworks show at 10:15 p.m. Saturday sponsored by Cooper Foods; a concert by the Fort Wayne Scottish Pipes and Drums group; a special POW/MIA military tribute and craft and garage sales at the fairgrounds.

Mazur noted that the event is a fundraiser for several area organizations, with half of the proceeds split between for the Van Wert County Regional Airport Authority and Van Wert County Agricultural Society (fair board); 40 percent going to the Van Wert County Foundation to help pay for next year’s festival and the remaining 10 percent split between several non-profit local groups.