The Glow
Sunday, Oct. 5, 2008
One of the unusual events at the Balloon Fiesta is the "Glow", where
the balloons are inflated, but tethered to the ground. Shortly after
sunset, the balloon pilots light up their propane torches, causing the
entire balloon to glow in the dark.
When all the balloons light up at once, it creates an interesting, and
colorful effect. Since the propane torches are on only for a few
seconds, getting all the pilots to light their propane torches at the
same time proved challenging; apparently some of them had trouble
hearing the countdown over the PA system. But, when it worked, it was
really neat.
The Glow was followed by a fireworks display.
The aerial fireworks was pretty much what one expected, but the ground fireworks were impressive, at least to this observer.