Hot Air Balloon Championship set for July
The skies over Shreveport will be filled with colors of all kinds when the Red River Balloon Rally and U.S. Hot Air Balloon Championship kicks off July 14.
The 2016 rally, supported by the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission, will mark the first of three years the event is scheduled to take place in Shreveport.
“There have been some really nice balloon festivals over the years in Shreveport, and I’d like to just say you probably haven’t seen anything like you’re getting ready to see,” said John Petrehn, a champion hot air balloon pilot, at a press conference announcing the event Jan. 7. “Shreveport is in for a treat.”
The rally and championship competitions will be held on the grounds of LSU-Shreveport, and Chancellor Larry Clark said he had lobbied for LSUS to be involved with the event.
“We all are children around balloons aren’t we?” he said. “No matter what your age, it does something that’s a great equalizer; you’re just like a little kid.
“What we’re going to see here in this community is so great, we’re so fortunate,” Clark said. “It will so enrich our community by having this here.”
While championship competition will begin July 14, the Red River Balloon Rally will host an opening ceremony July 15 with a balloon glow and a night of Christian music.
Brandon Beard, vice president and marketing manager at Cumulus Broadcasting, which is hosting the entertainment, said his company is looking to bring in Christian artists to perform on Friday and country music artists to perform July 16.
Admission to both concerts will be $10 for adults and $8 for children. “The focus is on the family part, getting everyone out enjoying some good music in a safe environment, and for people to have a good time,” Beard said.
On Saturday and Sunday mornings, admission will be free as the public is invited to watch the balloon pilots participate in a ring toss competition and other navigational tasks. The championship officially ends July 20.
Shreveport Mayor Ollie Tyler said the city hopes to see at least 20,000 people in town for the rally, though that may be a conservative estimate. “The economic impact is something I’m really excited about,” Tyler said. “We need to have that kind of impact for us to keep providing good services, and so our city and our community can continue to grow.
“It’s not just going to benefit Shreveport – it’s really going to benefit our entire region,” Tyler said.
Maury Sullivan, event director at the Balloon Federation of America, said he has been involved with hot air balloon events all over the country, but the reception he has witnessed from this area has been special.
“I’m not just blowing smoke here. I’ve never seen a community get so excited about an event,” Sullivan said about Shreveport. “I’ve just never seen so much excitement and people saying, ‘What can I do to help?’” Shreveport’s willingness to invest in a three-year deal with the U.S. Hot Air Balloon Championship helped it win the bid over a Midwest venue that only wanted to commit to one year, Sullivan said.
“You want three years to put a good quality package together,” Sullivan said. “You need that amount of time to really invest in your community to do a quality job.”
About 50 of the best pilots in the United States will participate in the competition, and of that number, 10 to 20 are some of the best pilots in the world, Sullivan said. Area residents should expect to begin seeing balloon activity even before the competition kicks off, as many pilots may be visiting the area to practice in the spring, he said.
Petrehn said he will have a positive report to give to other pilots inquiring about what to expect when they get to Shreveport in July.
“I’m going to get about 100 phone calls from balloon pilots all over the country as soon as I go home from this,” he said. “I’m going to be able to report back to them that one, I know you’ve got some great food; two, we’ve got a beautiful venue, some nice green grass, we’ve got wide open spaces to go fly in and so far, the reception and hospitality has been second to none.”
Several partners working together to bring the event to Shreveport include the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission, Cumulus Broadcasting, O’Nealgas, the City of Shreveport, SPAR and more.
–Sarah Crawford
LEARN MORE:
For more information about the rally and a full schedule of events, go to www.redriverballoonrally. com.
