(KLZA)-- Like so many other events the 2020 Falls City Hot Air Balloon Festival was cancelled due to the pandemic. 

The Hot Air Balloon Festival returns to Brenner Field this Saturday and Sunday.  The gates will open to the event at 5:00 p.m. and events go on until 10:00 p.m. 

When the Balloon Festival returned to Falls City in 2019 after a break of around 20 years,  a crowd estimated at 5 -6,000 showed up for the event.
With lessons learned about parking and having plenty of food on hand, Falls City Chamber Manager Amber Holle says this year the on-site crowd will be limited, with only three-thousand tickets to be sold. As of Monday morning 2,200 tickets had been sold.

If you cannot get online to get a ticket, you can stop by the Falls City Chamber Office at 1705 Stone Street and you can purchase tickets there.

A real old fashioned traffic jam occurred in 2019 due to the size of the crowd. With a smaller crowd, and a re-configuring of how the event is set up, all vehicles will be able to park on the airport grounds. 

If  you are coming to the balloon show, there are a couple of rules you need to be aware of.  You cannot bring in a cooler and there are no pets allowed.  Those attending are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets to sit on and remember you sunglasses, camera's, sunscreen and perhaps some bug repellent.  

There will be plenty of food vendors set up for the event with everything from hamburgers and hot dogs to enchilada's, barbecue,  wood fired pizza, crab cakes and funnel cakes among the choices.  

The gates open at 5:00 p.m. and the balloon liftoff's should begin around 7:00 p.m.  Following the liftoff, the balloons will be brought back and the baloon glow will begin at dusk. 

There will be a second balloon liftoff on Sunday morning around 6:30 – 7:00 a.m. along with a fly-in breakfast sponsored by the Falls City Area Jaycees and the Falls City Partners in Education group.  In addition, some local pilots will be giving plane rides for those interested.  

Tickets for the event are $12 for adults and children over 8 years of age.  Those 8 and under are admitted free of charge.