Every July, the residents of Readington and throughout New Jersey look forward to the annual New Jersey Festival of Ballooning, voted #1 on New Jersey Monthly’s list of 52 Things You Must do This Year.
This weekend, Solberg Airport in Readington will host the largest summertime balloon festival in North America. The annual event attracts more than 150,000 guests, and includes amusement rides, music concerts, arts and crafts, food vendors and fireworks. The main attraction, of course, is the magnificent hot air balloons of all shapes and sizes, which include two mass ascensions on Saturday and Sunday.
This year, more than 125 colorful hot-air balloons from around the world are expected to
take flight as the sky-high extravaganza celebrates its 30th anniversary. Some interesting balloons in the past were a giant Pepsi can, a shark, energizer bunny, Mr. Peanut and many others. Each year there are new additions to the spectacular colorful assortment. This year, the festival will feature Darth Vader, an American flag, a 30th anniversary cake balloon and others.
An additional benefit to the local, surrounding areas is that the hot air balloons often unexpectedly land in neighborhoods and lawns of excited fans. Such was the case of clients of mine who last summer sent me these photos of their newly purchased home. They wrote, “So, this is what greeted us yesterday morning at about 8AM, just as we were preparing to go for a bike ride. Thanks for giving us the opportunity to have such a memorable morning within 10 days of our moving in!”
This weekend is sure to provide yet another example of what makes our area such a great place to live.