A Quarter-Century of Ballooning in Galesburg

Brenna Chatterton - The Forgottonia Times

This year's Great Balloon Race is taking place from July 25th-27th at Lake Storey Park in Galesburg, Illinois. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the race! Founder Greg Saul recounts his beginnings in ballooning and the difficulty he and his wife faced while trying to begin this tradition in Galesburg. "Not many people know that when we had this idea, we went around to 86 businesses in Galesburg with sponsorship letters. Out of the 86 businesses, we had one response. That was very discouraging. Now, we have people coming to us wanting to be sponsors and vendors. It's amazing how persistence pays off." 

Greg began ballooning by crewing for his brother, a pilot in Galesburg. He did this for 15 years until he "decided that [his brother] was having more fun flying than he was on the ground crewing." Although he was involved with balloons for many years, Greg first became curious about festivals when he learned about the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico. It began 53 years ago with merely 13 balloons in a parking lot and has now become the most photographed event in the world. He eventually got to fly in the fiesta in October of 2017 and recalls it being an incredible event, with over 650 balloons in the air. 

This year there is a brand new 105,000 cubic feet large and 85-foot tall balloon named BOO flying as the face of the race. Jack Semler of Indy Hot Air will pilot him. Boo is a ghost-shaped balloon with two different faces on each side of the balloon and LED lights around the basket burner that shine up into the balloon. He will have a light show of his own at "Night Glows," which happens both Friday and Saturday nights. 

A band called Southern Exposure will also play at this year's event. Focusing on classic rock and country. And as always, there will be numerous activities for the kids to do, T-shirts for sale with BOO on the front, and food vendors. Additionally, there will be raffle tickets for a 50/50 golf ball drop on Saturday night and raffle tickets for a family getaway. 

We hope you can attend the 25th Annual Great Balloon Race! All events are FREE and will be held weather permitting! 

Find more information on galesburgballoonrace.com and follow them on Facebook at The Great Balloon Race, Galesburg, IL.