If you look to the sky above Presque Isle this weekend, you might spot a giant frog or a T. rex or perhaps the preamble to the U.S. Constitution.
It’s not a hallucination. It’s the Crown of Maine Balloon Festival.
Maine’s largest hot air balloon festival will return to Presque Isle starting Friday and run through Sunday, bringing with it attendees from across the U.S. and Canada and whimsically designed balloons from as far away as England.
The festival is a signature late summer event in Aroostook County, where more than a dozen hot air balloons take to the air each morning and evening — weather permitting — and fill the sky with bursts of color.
“It’s sort of like the one big last hurrah before fall kicks in and harvest season starts,” festival committee chair Jordyn Madore said.
Thirteen balloons are slated to participate in this year’s event, which is free to attend.
Untethered flights (those that are part of the morning and evening ascensions) are sold out, Madore said. But tethered flights, which rise about 40 feet off the ground, are scheduled for Friday and Saturday evening and can be purchased for $20 on a first-come, first-served basis.
Attendees can also watch the balloons illuminate the Northern Maine Fairgrounds at dusk on Friday and Saturday during the festival’s “moon glows.”
For the second consecutive year, the fairgrounds is also playing host to the Northern Lights Music Festival, featuring seven artists and bands throughout Sunday. Other live music will soundtrack events throughout the remainder of the weekend, including a craft and vendor fair and a family fun day.
Early Sunday morning, runners will take to the streets of Presque Isle in the Great TFG Balloon Chase 5K, which gets its name from the festival’s title sponsor, Thompson Financial Group.
After that wraps up, a series of gravel bike rides — ranging from 15 to 50 miles — are set to begin. The rides will benefit Northern Maine Community Trails, the 750-acre recreational space and event venue in Presque Isle formerly known as the Nordic Heritage Outdoor Center.
A nonprofit of the same name bought and reopened the facility in December for $1 million, and is in the midst of a capital campaign to raise the funds to cover the purchase and other expenses.
“The whole idea is to really make it feel like a community festival,” Madore said. “[It’s] bringing people together, giving them the opportunity to spend time together and have fun and do something that’s really beneficial to the community.”
The grandeur of the balloon displays attract a broader swath of people than the typical summer festivals that pop up in small Maine towns. Madore believes it’s an opportunity to show off what people are missing in northern Maine.
“I think the Crown of Maine Balloon Festival is really a great microcosm for what our community is,” she said. “Yes, come here to the festival. Come here and visit our vendors and our balloons and listen to our music, but explore our community, too.
“We are generally a very welcoming bunch. We love to hear why you’re here, we love to hear your stories. And I think the people who really do that, the people who come here and immerse themselves into our community, then want to come back again and find this a second home.”