The 2023 Macomb Balloon Rally will be held Friday and Saturday, Sept. 8-9 at Western Illinois University’s Vince Grady Field.
Events kick off Friday with a performance from WIU’s Jazz Studio Orchestra from 5:30-6:30 p.m. on Vince Grady Field, with the balloons taking off from the field at 6 p.m., weather permitting.
The first flight Saturday, Sept. 9 will be at 6:45 a.m. as pilots take off from locations throughout the city, depending on the winds. Pilots will take off again, weather permitting, at 6 p.m., trying to land on WIU’s Vince Grady Field.
Each of the flights is considered competitive, with targets placed throughout Macomb, as well as being mowed into the grass on Vince Grady Field.
The final balloon-related event of the evening will be the popular Balloon Glow event, at approximately 7:30 p.m. Balloonists will set up on Vince Grady Field and light their burners and their balloons against the night sky. Once the balloons are inflated, guests will be allowed to walk between the baskets to visit with the pilots and to see the balloons up close.
From 6-9 p.m., the live band JAB (Just Another Band), from Macomb, will play in the Showmobile on the field. Food trucks and other vendors will be set up on the west edge of the field throughout the evening, and balloon shirts will be available at a tent on the field.
The status of each flight will be updated at facebook.com/MacombBalloonRally, once the weather conditions have been assessed and a decision about each flight has been made.
For more information on the event, visit facebook.com/MacombBalloonRally.
