Preparations for Greenwood’s Balloon and Music Festival are ahead of schedule, and “now all we need is people at the front gate,” organizer Ken Gammill says.
The festival begins Thursday, and the weather for the weekend looks great, said Mark Bowie, balloonmeister for the event.
Balloon glows are scheduled for 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Thursday’s glow will be held in Whittington Park for the first time. The event is free and open to the public.
The Friday and Saturday glows will be held at the Greenwood band practice field.
Admission will be $10 on Friday and $15 on Saturday.
Children 10 and under get in free throughout the weekend. A $20 weekend pass allows people to attend both Friday and Saturday events.
Throughout the event, the “Porkin’ in the Park” barbecue competition will be held, and Saturday’s activities will include a car show featuring 150 vehicles.
Bowie said 35 balloonists will be participating, with action centered in Whittington Park and the GHS practice field.
Right now, Bowie said, the most pressing problem is getting volunteers to serve on chase crews. About 100 volunteers are needed for the event.
Volunteers will need to meet with the pilots Friday night at 7 p.m. at the pilot’s tent located at the GHS band practice field.
In the past, during Balloon Fest — the last one of which was held in 2003 — getting volunteers was fairly easy, he said. Since then, some of the former nvolunteers have gotten too old, and others have moved away.
A media flight will take place at 6:30 a.m. Friday.
Non-competitive evening flights will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and competitive flights on Saturday and Sunday will take place at 6:30 a.m.
All volunteers will receive crew passes that allows them to enter the festival for free.
Andy Hackleman, the festival’s music coordinator, said a lot of the artists performing are from around the Greenwood area.
“I think we have more scheduled music this year than we ever did in the old days,” he said. “Like most festival lineups, this one has a big variety. There is something for everyone, but I like how local it is. Most of these bands are from the area or have some connection.”
• Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcomm
