Great Falls Balloon Festival

04/07/2023

We are now accepting food, retail/display, Hudson Valley handmade artisan, and craft beverage vendor applications for 2023! The festival attracts over 20,000 visitors from all over the northeast and we are offering this exclusive opportunity to reach a large audience for vendors.

Interested businesses can fill out an application at https://www.dcrcoc.org/balloonfestvendors

04/03/2023

04/01/2023

The Great Falls Balloon Fest has been a huge missing piece of Maine summers for the last two years. Each year thousands gather to check out the incredible hot air balloons and take advantage of all the fun that comes along with them.

This festival is more than the balloon launches, which are cool enough on their own and will happen throughout the weekend at 6 am and 6 pm.

While the schedule is still being finalized, the Great Falls Balloon Fest always has an epic parade along the Androscoggin River, live entertainment, and fireworks. Plus tons of great crafters, vendors, food, trucks, and more!

This annual event is all to provide fundraising opportunities for nonprofits in the Lewiston/Auburn area as well as promote tourism.

After having two years off the Lewiston/Auburn Great Falls Balloon Fest returns with a fun theme!

04/01/2023

The Great Falls Balloon Festival made a triumphant return to Lewiston-Auburn this weekend. For some locals, it's a beloved tradition that they missed dearly during the last two years.

“It just brings everyone together in the community, said Lewiston resident Danielle Nagy. "I think it’s really neat and the kids get to experience it and see all the balloons go up."

The balloon festival is a favorite tradition for Nagy and her two children. Every year they wake up at 5 a.m., pick up donuts and sit on the lawn in Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston to watch the balloons take flight. Once they're up, they pick one to chase, following the balloon in a car to see where it lands.

Over the course of the three-day event, thousands of people came from near and far to watch 14 balloons take flight. It's a unique opportunity to see hot air balloons in real life and watch the magic up close.

"A lot of people don’t get this chance to see an actual hot air balloon."