Day Trips: Inflatable fun soars in the sky

One of the great and no-admission-charge events of the year is when the fall landscape is transformed by vivid colors. And we’re not talking about leaves.

Head to Anderson, S.C., next weekend for Balloons Over Anderson to view 25 hot-air balloons released from their tethers as they rise to hang majestically from the clouds. It’s staged Oct. 9-11, two hours southwest of Charlotte on the park grounds across from the Anderson Civic Center.

We’re essentially dealing with 1783 technology.

That’s when the Montgolfier brothers created an enormous bag (called an “envelop” nowadays) that, when filled with heated air from an opening on its bottom, rose free from the ground – and along with it, the basket (“gondola”) suspended below it.

Royalty and and crowds were quite impressed. People still are.

The varnished-cloth envelop is nylon or Dacron these days; the lift-giving fire in the basket is now usually a propane burner.

The original aviators in France were initially a sheep, duck and rooster, followed by the daring Etienne de Montgolfier. They’re followed nowadays by people who want to experience the thrill of being quietly, almost naturally airborne.

And the whole spectacle is followed on the grounds by crowds that love to see the balloons – bright-hued expanses of fabric, flat on the ground like washed-ashore jellyfish – gradually inflate to resemble gigantic lightbulbs and pull on on their tethers to be released.

Keep in mind that the schedule of aerial events at any balloon fest is naturally tentative. Pilots can control the up-and-down by adjusting the heat. But lateral motion – speed as well as direction – is dependent on prevailing winds.

Gates open at 3 p.m. Oct. 9 and 7 a.m. Oct. 10-11. All days begin, weather permitting, with hot-air balloon launches, which take two hours for balloons on-site. Each day, there are tethered balloon rides (you go up in the aircraft, but stay anchored to the ground) and actual flights.

Flights – $200 per person after you sign the liability waiver – are at 4 p.m. Oct. 9, 7:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Oct. 10-11. Whether you take a sunrise or sunset flight, you’ll need to check in an hour prior to liftoff.

Flights last up to an hour; with setup, flight, packing and return, your time with the pilot and crew is between two and three hours. Pilots, according to the website, typically fly at 2,000 feet and at wind speed. Pilots navigate by flying higher or lower to connect with the wind blowing in the desired direction. Balloons are followed by ground crews that will meet you when you land; after packing up the aircraft, they’ll drive you back to the festival.

The quick math: Five flights of 25 balloons = up to 125 flights. You can reserve yours in advance by calling 864-221-0552.

Tethered rides (waiver also required) are $10; $5 for 12 and younger.

All the above, of course, are weather-permitting: Winds must be calm, the sky must be fog- and storm-free within 50 miles of Anderson.

There’s more to see and do including music, arts and crafts and – bring your wallet – food vendors and inflatables and carnival rides for kids. Also helicopter rides ($35 and up).

There are lawn mower races from noon to 4 p.m. Oct. 10, but the visual highlight that day is the 7:30 p.m. balloon glow, when the 25 tethered airships’ burners are lit and the after-dusk launch field looks populated by super-huge jack-o’-lanterns.

This story was originally published October 2, 2015 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Day Trips: Inflatable fun soars in the sky."