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Slideshow: 46th annual Snowmass Balloon Festival takes flight

Three days of hot air aviation concludes Sunday

News News |

Kaya Williams
  

The 46th annual Snowmass Balloon Festival kicked off with the first of three morning hot air balloon launches and a downvalley race on Sept. 10 in Snowmass Village.

Launches continue Saturday and Sunday from 7-9 a.m. Onlookers can get up close and personal in the fields near Town Park or can see the balloons in flight from many trails throughout the village.

Parking is available at Town Park and along Brush Creek Road, where there is a partial closure each morning of the festival to allow people to park and watch from their cars. For more information, visit gosnowmass.com.

Laura Thum peeks around the edge of the inflating Tequila Sunrise balloon to watch as children play on the other side in the early morning on the first day of the 46th annual Snowmass Balloon Festival on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
A plane takes off from Aspen/Pitkin County Airport while hot air balloons rise above Snowmass Village on the first day of the 46th annual Snowmass Balloon Festival on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Laura Cole walks a hot air balloon forward while holding her 14.5-month-old son, Timothy Cole, III, on the first day of the 46th annual Snowmass Balloon Festival on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021. Timothy is a third generation ballooner and was wearing his father’s baby sweatshirt with a hot air balloon graphic on that morning. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Hot air balloons rise above Snowmass Village on the first day of the 46th annual Snowmass Balloon Festival on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Hot air balloons rise above Snowmass Village on the first day of the 46th annual Snowmass Balloon Festival on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
A crew member helps a balloon inflate on the first day of the 46th annual Snowmass Balloon Festival on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Pilot Mike Kelly inflates his hot air balloon on the first day of the 46th annual Snowmass Balloon Festival on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
People watch as hot air balloons rise above Snowmass Village on the first day of the 46th annual Snowmass Balloon Festival on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
A hot air balloons rise above Snowmass Village on the first day of the 46th annual Snowmass Balloon Festival on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Pilot Mike Kelly and his crew tip the hot air balloon basket onto his bottom on the first day of the 46th annual Snowmass Balloon Festival on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Pilot Mike Kelly guides his balloon into the air on the first day of the 46th annual Snowmass Balloon Festival on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Hot air balloons rise above Snowmass Village on the first day of the 46th annual Snowmass Balloon Festival on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Hot air balloons rise above Snowmass Village on the first day of the 46th annual Snowmass Balloon Festival on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
A hot air balloon flies over Town Park during the Snowmass Balloon Festival on Friday, September 10, 2021.
Kaya Williams/The Aspen Times
Pat Newlin and Kenny Bradley watch the flame of a hot air balloon vessel as they prepare for a downvalley flight from Town Park at the Snowmass Balloon Festival on Friday, September 10, 2021.
Kaya Williams/The Aspen Times
A hot air balloon flies over the Roaring Fork Valley during a downvalley flight for the Snowmass Balloon Festival on Friday, September 10, 2021.
Kaya Williams/The Aspen Times
Hot air balloons fly over Town Park during the Snowmass Balloon Festival on Friday, September 10, 2021.
Kaya Williams/The Aspen Times

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