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The sky is filled with color
Friday night with the first Balloons Over 66 flight
[August 23, 2025]
On Friday, August 22nd, many
hot air balloons launched from the field next to the Open Arms
campus. The weather was great. The temperature was relatively cool,
there were few clouds in the sky, and the wind was very mild. The
conditions were great for a hot air balloon launch.
Starting just after 5:30p.m.,
trucks filled with balloons and baskets started to fill the field.
Slowly but surely, the balloon teams began to get their hot air
balloons set up and inflated. It started with just a few, but by the
time 6:00 rolled around, there were dozens of teams setting up, with
a couple of balloons already in the sky.
The first balloon that went upright
was the City of Lincoln balloon. One at a time, the other balloons
started to go upright. The initial time for liftoff was 6:00 p.m.,
but that was moved back to 6:15 as some teams needed a little longer
to get prepared.
By the time 6:15 hit, at least half a dozen balloons had already
gotten off the ground. The balloons took off as each team was ready,
with some teams having a bit more trouble than others.
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The balloons did not travel far.
While in some years the balloons will fly over the city, this year
they likely did not travel more than a mile or two north. Many of
the balloons were still well within view as they began their descent
back down.
There were a lot of people present
for the launches, with many taking photos and videos. Some were
taking photos on their phones while others had professional cameras.
Once most of the balloons had taken off, people began to make their
way back to their cars and navigate out of the parking lot. Lincoln
police were present to direct traffic as well as several people in
the parking lot.
There will be another hot air balloon launch at the same field on
Saturday at 6:00 p.m. The announcer stated that Lincoln is expecting
somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 people to attend. This will be
followed by the Glow at 8:00.
[Matt Boutcher]
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