Sunday, February 01, 2009

Hot Air Affair

It's that time of year again. The Hudson Hot Air Affair is this coming weekend. The town of Hudson, Wisconsin is abuzz with activity all weekend. Some of the outdoor activities (yes, it's cold but we dress warm) include a parade, pond hockey on the river, volleyball tournament in the snow, smooshboarding (4 people strapped to one pair of ski-like wooden planks racing another group of the same), a kite fly and of course hot air balloon launches if the weather cooperates with us. The unique shops downtown have sales and the school where the center of activity takes place has an art & craft sale. On Saturday night, there is a balloon glow at the school. If the winds are calm, 30+ balloons inflate and light up the night sky. It is a sight to behold when they all light up their burners at the same time.

The hub and I have been volunteering for the Hudson Hot Air Affair for 8 years now. It's an organizational feat to pull this event off every year. There are a few key players coordinating and a whole lot of volunteers pitching in to make it happen. I take care of the majority of their graphic design needs and coordinate the Minnesota Kite Society kite fly. The hub has been involved with the ballooning duties including flying the event in past years and one year he was the balloonmeister (the main poo-pah of the balloonists). We have the balloon parked this winter so will enjoy being spectators when we are not on duty.

It's a fun outing if you're in the Minneapolis/St. Paul/West Central Wisconsin area. There are no admissions for the different events, parking is free and it is all kid friendly. There's a full schedule and info at their website, hudsonhotairaffair.com.



15 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh Wow!! What amazing pictures. I wish I lived near you so I could go to that with my boys - they would love it.S x

will said...

Fun story. For some reason I always think of Peter Pan when a balloon goes by.

notmassproduced said...

beautiful photography

Anonymous said...

My kids WOULD love that--there are 3 hot air balloons near our house and whenever they float past, we stop everything and stand in awe.

Midwest Mom said...

We have a summer balloon festival and evening ballon glow where we live, too. What an amazing event!

I hope your weather is *perfect* for it. :)

- Julia

KFarmer said...

I'm with Sarah, the first thought I thought of was WOW! What a beautiful site~ all those colorful balloons. They looked like Easter eggs floating in the sky :)

Minnesota Matron said...

Oh, I'm so glad I came by! Now we can go :-)

Anonymous said...

Hope the air lifts your spirits grrl.... XXX

Bone said...

We have one of those around here, I think it's on Memorial Day weekend. Very colorful.

I'd like to ride in one someday.

Jocelyn said...

How can it be that I live so close but am so unaware?

Don't even answer that question.

Wot larks! I'd never even heard of smoooshboarding, and I like to think I know most snow-related activities (like igloo backgammon).

ArtSparker said...

What a wonderful gathering of the clans, I hope the weather is your friend & glowing is a go.

teahouse said...

So beautiful!! Yes, I love hot air balloons as well. I wish I lived in Minnesota...

RennyBA said...

Woooow, sounds soooo exciting - I've always wanted to try!

Great pics too - thanks for sharing.

You really do a great voluntarily work.

RennyBA's Terella

TC said...

My best friend went to college in River Falls for four years before transferring: I wish I'd known about this event then! It would have made for a fun weekend.

Shelby said...

The photos of the hot air balloons over the snow -- amazing.. really spectacular. Like your music too. Quite an eclectic grouping. Just up my alley.