Western Pennsylvania Balloon Quest – New Castle

Western Pennsylvania Balloon Quest, New Castle, Pennsylvania

Western Pennsylvania Balloon Quest – A six-day balloon festival that occurs every year in mid-July, organized by Union Township Fire Department. It was slated for July – 12,13,14,15 & 16 this year. It was on my wish list to visit a balloon festival and of course travel in one of those hot air balloons. The balloon fest happened last month in Philadelphia and we couldn’t make it as it is 5 hours drive from the burgh.

When I came to know about the Western Pennsylvania Balloon Quest, that happens every year in the Lawrence County which is just 45 minutes’ drive from the burgh. And when I knew it was for FREE, I have been nudging both SAN and SJ to drive me to the festival. Hence, the preparations for attending the event happened for the last entire week – checking their schedule, planning our day accordingly, travel after office hours to capture the glow, and waking up early in the morning to watch the launch of balloons on Sunday. We woke up by 4:30 AM today morning. Yeah I know, it was too early.

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There is NO CHARGE for Parking or for Admission. And what would be energizing than viewing the sky filled with colorful inflated balloons as a first sight in the morning? The Festival featured Hot Air Balloon Glow, Hot Air Balloon Rides, Carnivals, Rides, Food, and games. The proceeds of the quest benefit the Volunteer Fire Department.

The Hot Air Balloon glow or launch doesn’t happen every day of the fest. Hence, we checked the schedule and we came to know that the Hot Air balloon glow was slated for July 13 around 9:00 PM. As soon as we reached home from the office, we quickly finished our dinner and drove to the Scotland Meadows Park for the Balloon Glow. I should admit that it was an unforgettable experience to watch the balloons glow according to the background music.

The hot air balloon launch was scheduled on Friday (6:30 PM), Saturday (6:30 AM and 6:30 PM) and on Sunday (6:00 AM). The Union Fire Department is not permitted to allow any balloonists to sell rides but one can request the balloonist to carry them when balloons launch. We woke up today by 4:30 AM, packed our home made coffee, drove the car through the mist to New Castle and reached before the balloonists arrived to view the spectacular event. More than 10 balloons were inflated using a large fan and were arranged in the ground. They were launched slowly one after another and soon the skies of the New Castle was filled with colorful inflated hot air balloons. Wish I should have been in one of those balloons. One must watch that colorful sky in person to experience such a fantastic event. No words can describe the beauty of it.There were fireworks and DJ on Thursday and Saturday night.

We then followed the balloons to trace its landing locations and we checked with one of the balloonists on the way. He mentioned that they are unaware of the location where their balloon would land. The balloonist usually land the balloons in a safe place without any crowded trees and where the winds favor them. We followed a balloon and watched as how it landed in a cemetery and how they deflated the balloon.

We then drove happily back to Burgh with the memories of such a spectacular event. I am still in awe at the glow and launch. The respect for the balloonist grew so much and thanks to them for providing us a wonderful experience. And we decided to visit the quest every year. Because it is a festival than any other but Pittsburgh.