In the pre-dawn hours of the Saturday morning a week before the Kentucky Derby, dozens of trucks and vans pulling trailers, and hundreds of cars lined up on Pee Wee Reese Drive in Louisville, Kentucky waiting to enter a back gate into a large field between Runway 6 and Runway 15 of Bowman Field. An orange sun was starting to peak over the horizon against blue-gray bulbous clouds. A small hot air balloon stood stark against the sky pointing crews to a tent where a meeting was happening.
Pilots then gathered around a truck in the parking lot for a pre-flight weather briefing and a discussion of possible landing spots along where the wind would be taking them. After a “Go”, everyone returned to their trucks and vans. Crews busily unloaded the gondola, started unfurling the canopy, and hooking up burners.
The first balloon to start filling with air was the L&N Credit Union Balloon which is also the main sponsor of the 2023 Great Balloon Fest. This balloon would be the first one to launch, an honor given to last year’s winner. Known as the “Hare” balloon, their job is to fly first and let the rest of the balloons chase it.
The hare balloon will find an open area and land. They will roll out an X-shaped target on the ground and wait.
The remaining balloons take off when they are ready and chase the hare balloon down. As they approach the target the pilot will get as close to the X as possible and toss a bag of Kentucky Blue Grass seed. The game is simple: The closest wins.
From there the pilots will fly further looking for a place to land. It could be a golf course, a park, a farm, or a neighborhood while they await their chase crew to find them and then they pack up for the day.
Weather is always the main concern for hot air balloon events. If the clouds are too low or the winds at ground level are too strong, the balloons can’t fly. The weather on Friday scrubbed the morning Rush Hour race.
Even though this Saturday the sky was filled with ominous clouds. They were high enough to not be a problem and the balloons would fly thrilling the fans who got up early on their weekend morning to come out in the cold and enjoy this annual spectacle.
