With near perfect weather this past weekend, the City of Cathedral City, Fantasy Balloon Flights, and the title sponsor, Westin Mission Hills Golf Resort & Spa, celebrated the 6th Annual Cathedral City Hot Air Balloon Festival and Food Truck Fiesta. An estimated 12,000 to 15,000 people attended over the three days making it the largest crowd thus far for this growing event. Most of the attendees arrived from outside of Cathedral City and the Coachella Valley as this event has generated a tremendous interest from the California coast and beyond. It was also the first time in the balloon festival history that the balloons were able to takeoff and fly over Cathedral City thanks to D R Horton, America’s Largest Homebuilder, providing space at their new home development in the Verano neighborhood in north Cathedral City.
Beyond the spectacular morning flights, thousands came to downtown Cathedral City on Saturday to enjoy the new Healthy Life Fest, tethered hot air balloon rides, the 10,000 Banana Balloon Candy Drop, a great line-up of musical acts on the Main Stage, Kid Zone, outdoor market, and the very popular Food Truck Fiesta located inside the new Cathedral City Community Amphitheater. Although the new park is still under construction, everyone was in “ahh” over the park’s beauty and amazing mountain views.
On Saturday night, our biggest crowd ever enjoyed the 45-minute Balloon Glow to Music with people observing from the third floor of the downtown parking structure, the surrounding roads, and underneath the balloons lined-up from the City parking lot west of Trilussa’s Restaurant to the Festival Lawn to the Cathedral City Community Amphitheater. Best of all, surrounding restaurants and lounges reported some of their best sales over the three days.
On Sunday morning, the annual Pancake Breakfast and Special Shapes Sunday at Big League Dreams was a huge hit for seeing all the balloons inflated on three ball fields with the ability to take the perfect selfie. Although the wind was in the wrong direction for takeoff on Sunday, the festival offered tethered balloon rides and the perfect photos with the kids as everyone was enjoying the beauty of the balloons rising nearly seven stories high.
Take a look at this hyperlink for some of our pictures: https://www.discovercathedralcity.com/habf-gallery/
If you took a great photo at the festival, please send it to cparman@cathedralcity.gov. We will pick the top ten photos and provide the winners with two tickets to the VIP Viewing Lounge for the Cathedral City Hot Air Balloon Festival scheduled for November 20-22, 2020.
