Pellissippi’s fifth annual Hot Air Balloon Festival took flight last Friday and Saturday at Pellissippi’s main campus on Hardin Valley Road.  

The festival included food, arts and crafts vendors, games for the kids, bands, and balloon “glows” in the evening. 

Balloons illuminated by their gas burners lit up the night sky around one side of Pellissippi’s pond while spectators gazed in amazement from the other side.  

Singers and bands, some featuring local talent, included: The Detroitdaddies, Homer Hart, Laura Bryna, and Julius Blue and the Motown Sounds. Other bands were also in attendance.   

Julia Wood, the Marketing and Communications Director at Pellissippi, estimated that 12,000 people were in attendance to watch the balloons take flight.

Unfortunately, high winds and foul weather grounded tethered flights for spectators on Friday and Saturday afternoon. The flights were back on for Saturday night. 

Even with the bad weather, she said this year was very successful.   

Tickets priced at $5 and private donations went to the Pellissippi State Foundation, a foundation which raises funds for student scholarships and classroom equipment.

This year, a portion of the funds are going towards Pellissippi’s new Blount County campus.