Great Falls Balloon Festival | |
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![]() 2023 Great Falls Balloon Festival in Lewiston, ME. | |
Genre | Hot Air Balloon festival |
Dates | August 18th, 19th, 20th, 2023. |
Location(s) | Lewiston and Auburn, Maine [1] |
Founded | 1997 |
Attendance | 100,000 Annually |
Website | http://www.GreatfallsBalloonfestival.Org/ |
The Great Falls Balloon Festival is a hot air balloon festival held in the twin cities of Lewiston and Auburn, Maine. It has been held annually each August since 1993, although it was only held virtually in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival, which is held on the banks of the Androscoggin River attracts up to 100,000 spectators each year. The festival features rides, games, music, and trade booths in the various parks and plazas where the balloons lift off.
In 2024, the Great Falls Balloon Festival board of directors decided not to hold the 30th anniversary festival due to "logistical issues, safety concerns, and other unexpected factors beyond our control." After negotiations with the City of Lewiston, the board to decided to relinquish control of the festival to allow the city to operate it for the year under a new name, the L/A Balloon Festival. [2]
Androscoggin County is a county in the U.S. state of Maine. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 111,139. Its county seat is Auburn and its most populous city is Lewiston.
Auburn is a city in south-central Maine, within the United States. The city serves as the county seat of Androscoggin County. The population was 24,061 at the 2020 census. Auburn and its sister city Lewiston are known locally as the Twin Cities or Lewiston–Auburn (L–A).
Leeds is a town in Androscoggin County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,262 at the 2020 census. It is included in both the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine Metropolitan New England City and Town Area.
Lewiston is the second most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine, with the city's population at 37,121 as of the 2020 United States Census. The city lies halfway between Augusta, the state's capital, and Portland, the state's most populous city. It is one-half of the Lewiston–Auburn Metropolitan Statistical Area, commonly referred to as "L/A." or "L-A." Lewiston exerts a significant impact upon the diversity, religious variety, commerce, education, and economic power of Maine. It is known for having an overall low cost of living, substantial access to medical care, and a low violent-crime rate. In recent years, the city of Lewiston has also seen a spike in economic and social growth. While the dominant language spoken in the city is English, it is home to a significant Somali population as well as the largest French-speaking population in the United States while it is second to St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, in percentage of speakers.
Lisbon Falls is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Lisbon, located in Androscoggin County, Maine, United States. The population of Lisbon Falls was 4,100 at the 2010 census. It is included in both the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan statistical area and the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine, Metropolitan New England city and town area.
Minot is a town in Androscoggin County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,766 at the 2020 census. The town includes the villages of West Minot and Minot Center. It is part of both the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan statistical area and the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area.
Poland is a town in Androscoggin County, Maine, United States. The population was 5,906 at the 2020 census. Set among rolling hills and numerous lakes, the town is home to Range Ponds State Park, which includes hiking trails and a pristine freshwater beach. Poland is also a historic resort area. It is included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan statistical area, which itself is part of the Greater Portland-Lewiston Combined Statistical Area.
Wayne is a town in Kennebec County, Maine, United States. Wayne is included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area. The population was 1,129 at the 2020 census. The town was named after Revolutionary War General Anthony Wayne. During the summer, Wayne is home to Camp Androscoggin. A popular recreation spot in central Maine, Wayne is part of the Winthrop Lakes Region. The town is included in the Augusta, Maine micropolitan New England City and Town Area. and included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area.
The Androscoggin River is a river in the U.S. states of Maine and New Hampshire, in northern New England. It is 178 miles (286 km) long and joins the Kennebec River at Merrymeeting Bay in Maine before its water empties into the Gulf of Maine on the Atlantic Ocean. Its drainage basin is 3,530 square miles (9,100 km2) in area. The name "Androscoggin" comes from the Eastern Abenaki term Ammoscongon, which referred to the entire portion of the river north of the Great Falls in Lewiston, Maine. The Anglicization of the Abenaki term is likely an analogical contamination with the colonial governor Edmund Andros.
The Kentucky Derby Festival is an annual festival held in Louisville, Kentucky, during the two weeks preceding the first Saturday in May, the day of the Kentucky Derby. The festival, Kentucky's largest single annual event, first ran from 1935 to 1937, and restarted in 1956.
The Colisée, formerly Androscoggin Bank Colisée, Central Maine Youth Center, Central Maine Civic Center, and Lewiston Colisee, is a 4,000 capacity multi-purpose arena, in Lewiston, Maine, United States that was built from 1956 to 1958 and opened in the latter year to replace the Dominics Regional High School Arena and was initially constructed and operated by the Catholic parish of SS. Peter and Paul. It was used as a replacement venue for the boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston in 1965.
Auburn-Lewiston Airport is a public airport in Androscoggin County, Maine, United States. It opened in 1935. It is five miles southwest of the cities of Auburn and Lewiston, which jointly own and operate the airport.
The Maine Central Railroad Rumford Branch is a railroad line in Maine now operated as part of the Pan Am Railways system. The Rumford Branch leaves the mainline at Leeds Junction and continues northwest up the Androscoggin River valley, passing through Livermore Falls and terminating at Rumford. The branch comprises the remaining trackage of three earlier branches:
The Little Androscoggin River is a 51.4-mile-long (82.7 km) river in Maine. It flows from Bryant Pond in Woodstock to its confluence with the Androscoggin River in Auburn. The Androscoggin flows into Merrymeeting Bay in the Kennebec River estuary.
George M. Coombs was an American architect in practice in Lewiston, Maine from 1874 to 1909.
The Great Forest Park Balloon Race is an annual hot air balloon festival held in Forest Park in St. Louis, Missouri. With more than 70 entrants and 130,000 spectators, it is the most well-attended single-day hot air balloon race in the United States.
Naval Auxiliary Air Facility Lewiston, located at Lewiston, Maine, is a closed facility of the United States Navy, and was established as one of five air facilities to support Naval Air Station Brunswick, Maine, during World War II.
The Maine Nordiques were a Tier III Junior "A" ice hockey team from Lewiston, Maine. The team was a member of the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) since 2016 and played home games at the Androscoggin Bank Colisée since 2015. The franchise relocated several times under the operation of the Fighting Spirit organization before it was sold to the Colisée owner, Jim Cain, in 2017.
Clark Mountain is a summit in Androscoggin County, Maine, in the United States. With an elevation of 682 feet (208 m), Clark Mountain is the 1434th highest summit in the state of Maine.
Mount David is a rocky summit in Lewiston, Maine, on the campus of Bates College in back of Rand Hall. It is one of the highest points in Lewiston at 381 feet and offers views of the White Mountains including Mount Washington on a clear day.
The 16th annual Great Falls Balloon Festival got under way yesterday along the banks of the Androscoggin...
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