BIG OH! BALLOONS - HOT AIR BALLOON FLIGHTS IN NORTH CAROLINA...FAMOUS SINCE 1981
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BALLOON TRIVIA & HISTORY
Hot air ballooning was the first method of flight . . .


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Launching a hot air balloon, France 1783. — Unmanned hot air balloons are first noted in Chinese history. Zhuge Liang of the Shu Han kingdom, in the Three Kingdoms era (220-280 AD) used airborne lanterns for military signaling. These lanterns are known as Kongming lanterns. There is also some speculation that hot air balloons could have been used by people of the Nazca culture of Peru some 1500 years ago, as a tool for designing the famous Nazca ground figures and lines. The first documented balloon flight in Europe was by the Portuguese priest Bartolomeu de Gusmão. On August 8, 1709, in Lisbon, Bartolomeu de Gusmão managed to lift a small balloon made of paper full of hot air about 4 meters in front of king John V and the Portuguese court.
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The first clearly recorded instance of a balloon carrying passengers used hot air to generate buoyancy. The balloon was built by the Montgolfier brothers, Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Etienne, in Annonay, France. After experimenting with unmanned balloons and flights with animals, the first tethered balloon flight with humans on board took place on October 19, 1783 with the scientist Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier, the manufacture manager, Jean-Baptiste Réveillon and Giroud de Villette, at the Folie Titon in Paris. The first free flight with human passengers was on November 21, 1783. King Louis XVI had originally decreed that condemned criminals would be the first pilots, but de Rozier, along with Marquis Francois d'Arlandes, successfully petitioned for the honor.
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Montgolfier Balloon
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Montgolfier Day, November 21, 1783
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Oh my! What in the world is that?
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Weaving the basket
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North Carolina Balloon 1988
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The balloon's crew team does the heavy lifting!
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National Balloon Rally, 1981
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VOLUNTEER HERE

Keep up with news about
2025 Carolina BalloonFest

October 14, 15, 16
Balloons fly in the mornings around 7:30 to 9:30 AM
​& before sunset,
around 4:45 to 6:45 PM,
weather permitting.


COME EARLY!
​STAY LATE!

See you there!
IN 2024,
Carolina BalloonFest
donated $125,000 to
​local nonprofit organizations.

Each year donations are made by
​National Balloon Rally Charities to a number of regional organizations. Thank you for participating!
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Big oh! Balloons
Cool Spring Center
​399 West Page Hager Road
Cleveland, NC  27013

704-872-7761 office
​--by appointment only--


In the beautiful Cool Spring community
​in Central North Carolina!
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Photo by Wayne MacFarland @2021
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LINKS WE LIKE
Check Out
Running T Farms'
Hot Air Balloon Giveaway! Click their link below!
SHOP LOCAL!!!
​

Balloon Federation of America
Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

JXP Elite Productions Video
Cool Spring Center
Running T Farms

Carolina BalloonFest
Fire Fly Balloons

FIG Balloon Festival, Leon, Mexico

​
Select Images by
Michele Cooke, Daniel Sasser, and Ron Ellis. ©2021


  • Home
  • DETAILS
  • Special Events/Tethers
  • BOOKS
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  • Trivia
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  • Why Balloons Don't Fly