The annual Mancos Balloon Festival will feature colorful balloons, art exhibits and vendors over the weekend.
Balloons, as many as 11 will take off from Boyle Park Friday, Saturday and Sunday around 6:30 a.m. The picturesque balloon glow is scheduled for Friday night around 7 p.m.
The art festival in be on Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. with lots of vendors on the street. Art demonstrations will be on Grand Avenue in front of the galleries, featuring pottery, blacksmithing, and wood carving
All the galleries will be open late and there is a reception at the Raven House Gallery for their new pastel artist, Bodie Tedeschi Hartman.
On Saturday evening, there is a dinner and auction, with live entertainment and dancing at the Mancos Valley Hardware Store, 6 p.m. The cost is $20 per person. Reservations and tickets are sold in advance at the Bauer House 560-0203 and the visitors center 533-7434.
For people looking for an amazing view of the Mancos Valley, balloon rides can be purchased for $125 per person,
If the winds stay quiet, $10 tethered rides will be available in Boyle Park.
For residents not able to make it to the launches, they can invite pilots to touch down near Mancos area homes. Place a white or any light colored sheet where the pilots are welcome to land. In the end, only the winds know where the balloon will land. However, with a welcome sheet in the pasture or yard, pilots might choose to land there.
Landowners can register for a balloon ride drawing. The drawing will take place on Saturday night, Sept. 29, during the dinner being held at the hardware store. To enter, please visit the visitor center to complete a registration card. You may also register at the festival ticket booth in Boyle Park during the flight days and on Friday evening during the balloon glow.
Volunteers are still needed for the balloon festival events this weekend.
Contact Ragan Young at 560-1724 for more information, or to volunteer to be part of the ground crews for morning hot air balloon flights and evening launches.