Viera Balloon Glow

Tonight we drove to the park across from the Space Coast Stadium in Viera to see the balloons glow. There was a two night event set up with food vendors and about a dozen hot air balloons tethered to the ground. They even offered low, tethered flights for those who wanted to get their feet off the ground. Being December in Florida, the weather was perfect.

Susan and I drove over just before sunset to check it out. With the COVID-19 in the air, we should have thought to look up the event ahead of time because when we arrived, they expected us to already have tickets. Well, we didn’t. Luckily, they let us pay on the spot.

We parked in the big, somewhat muddy field and walked to the main entrance. From there, we walked past the food vendors, past the balloon rides, and finally past the stage with a live band playing. To my surprise, the line for tickets to ride stretched all the way across the grounds. The band was hard to hear because there was a public address system playing very loudly with speakers spread out across the grounds.

Tethered balloon glowing just after sunset

As it got darker, the balloons started glowing from within as the pilots fired their burners. To my surprise, the line for tickets to ride stretched all the way across the grounds. Once it was completely dark, the PA guy announced that all the balloons would glow on his mark. He counted down and the pilots turned up the heat. It was very impressive. This repeated about every 5 minutes, so there were many opportunities to see the balloons from every angle.

Meanwhile, all the food vendors had me wanting something to snack on. As we walked the line again, we came across an “ice cream” vendor selling frozen yogurt treats. I couldn’t believe that they had peanut butter shakes. I had no choice; I had to get one. To my surprise, Susan got something, too!

Below is a link to a collection of photos from the balloon glow.