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Hot Air Balloon Festivals in New York: Adirondack, Hudson Valley and Letchworth

Monica Greene 4 months ago

Hot Air Balloon Festivals in New York: Adirondack, Hudson Valley and Letchworth

New York has several long-running balloon festivals, and the three covered here work in quite different ways. One is a free community event in the Adirondack foothills, one is a ticketed festival at a park in the Hudson Valley, and one is a Memorial Day weekend balloon rally at a state park in western New York. This guide describes what each festival is, where it is held and what to check before you go. Festival dates, ticket prices and rules change from year to year, so we deliberately describe the pattern of each event and send you to the organizer for current details.

Adirondack Balloon Festival (Queensbury and Glens Falls, Warren County)

The Adirondack Balloon Festival marked its 50th anniversary in 2023. The festival's own website places it in the Town of Queensbury, "at the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains in Warren County on the shores of Lake George," and its 2026 edition was scheduled for September 17 to 20. The Glens Falls tourism site lists a Thursday kickoff at Crandall Park in Glens Falls, with Friday through Sunday at Floyd Bennett Memorial Airport in Queensbury, and says there is no charge for admission or parking.

Some background from New York State Senate resolution J1288 (adopted June 6, 2023), which commemorated the festival's 50th anniversary:

  • It began in the early 1970s, when Warren County's tourism office was looking for an event to bring visitors to the region after Labor Day.
  • The early festivals were held at Adirondack Community College, now SUNY Adirondack. As it grew it needed a larger site, which became Floyd Bennett Memorial Airport in Queensbury.
  • The resolution describes the festival as a not-for-profit organization that has never charged the public to watch.
  • The resolution says the festival draws "upwards of 100,000 people over four days." That is the resolution's own figure, so treat it as a rough estimate rather than a count.

Because it is a free public event, expect company, and check the official festival website for the current schedule before you go. As at any balloon event, launches depend on the weather.

Hudson Valley Hot-Air Balloon Festival (Tymor Park, Dutchess County)

The Hudson Valley Hot-Air Balloon Festival is organized by the Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce and is held at Tymor Park in Lagrangeville. The chamber's 2026 parking schedule lists the opening evening as Friday, September 4, with Saturday and Sunday sessions to follow; check the chamber's site for the exact schedule in any given year. News 12 Hudson Valley described the 2023 event as the 32nd annual festival and reported that organizers expected about 20,000 visitors over the weekend, with entry capped at 4,000 people at a time. The same report said organizers expected to raise about $100,000 for chamber foundation scholarship funds supporting education. Those are 2023 figures and should not be read as current.

The chamber's official ticket page is a useful example of how a ticketed festival works:

  • Tickets must be bought in advance. The page states that tickets are not sold at the gate.
  • There are separate evening and morning sessions. The page lists evening admission for Friday, Saturday or Sunday, morning admission for Saturday or Sunday, and an all-weekend pass.
  • Parking is free but limited. The page says visitors without a parking reservation will be turned away.
  • Weather decides. The page says the event is rain or shine, that "ALL BALLOONS TAKE-OFF AT THE SOLE DISCRETION OF THE PILOT," and that "balloons will launch early, late or not at all" because of weather, wind or other conditions. It also says all sales are final, with no refunds or exchanges if balloons do not inflate.
  • Passenger flights and tethered rides are priced separately from general admission on the page. We do not repeat prices here because they change.

The practical lesson: a festival ticket gets you onto the grounds, not into a basket. The same page says that if wind and weather conditions are not ideal and safe for ballooning, the pilots will not inflate or fly.

Letchworth Balloon Rally (Letchworth State Park)

The Letchworth balloon rally is a Memorial Day weekend event at Letchworth State Park in western New York, where balloons fly over the Letchworth gorge. It has been reported under the name Red, White and Blue Balloon Festival (or Rally) in past coverage, and it is not held every year: a local news report from February 2025 said organizers had cancelled that year's rally and that its future was unknown. A March 2026 local media report said it was returning for Memorial Day weekend 2026 after a one-year hiatus, organized by a local business, Balloons Over Letchworth, with launches from the Archery Field inside the Castile gate. A 2026 rally listing gave the dates as May 22 to 24, said approximately 20 balloons were expected and said launch times were wind and weather dependent. Both sources described watching the launches as free, while noting the park's $10 per car vehicle fee between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. We have not confirmed how the 2026 weekend went or whether the rally is planned for future years.

Earlier coverage (May 2023) described about 20 balloons, with footage of balloons over the gorge on a Saturday evening and an early-morning Sunday launch. These are reports of past editions. Because the rally has been cancelled before, confirm the current year's schedule, any park entry fee and the launch location with the organizer or the park before you travel.

How to plan a balloon festival visit

  1. Treat the schedule as a forecast, not a promise. The Hudson Valley chamber and the Letchworth rally listing both make the same point: launches depend on weather and wind, and at Hudson Valley they are at the pilots' discretion. Have a plan for the time between sessions.
  2. Buy tickets early where the festival is ticketed, and read the refund policy before paying.
  3. Arrive early. The Hudson Valley chamber's page recommends arriving roughly 30 minutes or more before the scheduled launch.
  4. Dress in layers. Festival sessions like the ones above are scheduled for mornings and evenings, which can be cooler than midday.
  5. Know the difference between watching and flying. At the festivals above, admission (or free entry) lets you watch. Where passenger flights or tethered rides are offered, they are separate purchases.
  6. Follow the organizer's official channels for same-day updates. The Hudson Valley chamber, for example, says launch times and delays are posted on its social media during the festival.

Festival or private flight?

A festival is a way to see many balloons at once, and at events where watching is free, it can cost far less than a flight. If you want to be in the basket, you need a passenger flight, which is a separate purchase and is also subject to weather. Our guides to Hudson Valley balloon rides, Adirondacks balloon flights and first-time balloon flights in New York cover that side of the experience.

Sources

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