Planning to go to a world-renowned hot air balloon festival may seem daunting. Going on a long trip with your little ones can also seem daunting too. But it’s all possible and so worth it —we promise! If you want to take your kids to a hot air balloon festival, read the tips below and you’ll be planning a trip in no time at all.
There’s just something dreamy about hot air balloons that puts balloon festivals at the top of many bucket lists. But putting something on your bucket list always comes with the pressure to get the experience just right. When going with kids, the stakes are higher because not only do you want your dreams to come true, but you want your kids to love the experience, too.
Hot air balloons are also unpredictable themselves – if the conditions aren’t right, they won’t take off. Coupled with your unpredictable kids, you’ll want to do everything you can to prepare.
We just attended the Sonoma County Hot Air Balloon Festival with our kids – our first one as a family! Here are 11 tips based on what we learned, to help you make your hot air balloon festival dream experience come true – or at least very close to it. 🙂
Do you love bucket-list-worthy adventures? Read more here:
- 60+ Kid-Friendly Wineries near San Francisco You Would Want to Check Out
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Tip 1: Choose the Right Hot Air Balloon Festival for Your Family
- Tip 2: Figure Out the Best Way Get to the Festival
- Tip 3: Do as Much as Possible the Night Before the Hot Air Balloon Festival
- Tip 4: Packing List for Hot Air Balloon Festivals with Kids
- Tip 5: Bring Entertainment for Your Kids
- Tip 6: Dress Appropriately
- Tip 7: Get There Early (But Not Too Early)
- Tip 8: Pick the Right Mode of Transportation within the Festival
- Tip 9: Have a Plan for Meltdowns
- Tip 10: Agree on a Meeting Place
- Tip 11: Be Prepared for Potential Disappointment
Tip 1: Choose the Right Hot Air Balloon Festival for Your Family
Some festivals may be a better fit for you and your family than others. When browsing festivals, think about:
- Expected crowd size
- Parking availability
- Proximity to hotels
- Proximity to home
- Kid-themed balloons
- Kid-themed activities
Keeping our kids in mind, we chose the Sonoma County Hot Air Balloon Classic because it was close enough to home, we were able to book a hotel within a 15-minute walk, we knew there would be kid-themed balloons and entertainment, and it was a relatively smaller-scale event. Overall, it was perfect as a first-time experience with kids. Now I feel like we can take on bigger and farther festivals!
Looking for U.S. festivals to narrow down the best one for your family? We love this list. Are you ready to venture out even farther? Here’s a list of festivals around the world.
Tip 2: Figure Out the Best Way Get to the Festival
As I mentioned, we stayed at a hotel within a 15-minute walk from the festival. That could mean 30 minutes when walking with a toddler. We contemplated driving, but we got a tip from a friend that parking filled up by 5am. We decided that Henry scooting and Andrew in a stroller was our best bet. We were glad we chose that route — we were definitely moving faster than the traffic near the festival.
If you don’t have the option of walking/scooting/strolling there, make sure you know where the parking area is, and make sure to factor in parking/traffic time when deciding your ETA. Check for any shuttles to the festival. That might be another great option!
Looking for the hot air balloons!
Tip 3: Do as Much as Possible the Night Before the Hot Air Balloon Festival
I try to do this whenever we have anything to do early in the morning, but I wanted to be even more prepared for an event that was on my bucket list, especially one where we had to be out the door at 4am.
Here’s what I did the night before:
- Set your alarm, and set 2 more
I started out setting my alarm for 4:30am, then decided to set another one for 4:35, then 4:25 to be safe. 🙂 The excitement of it all ended up waking me up at 4:20am and I didn’t need the alarm at all, but you never know.
- Lay out everyone’s clothes for the morning
Better yet, Henry went to sleep in the clothes he was going to wear the next morning. He insisted and I couldn’t argue with that one! If you have little ones in diapers, lay those out too. This process really saves a lot of time and stress.
- Choose your camera settings
If you’re bringing a “real” camera that you shoot manual in, have all the right settings for shooting at a hot air balloon festival. The camera I got was new for me, so it would have helped to figure this out the night before. Here’s a helpful article I read on how to set your camera for hot air balloon festivals. I didn’t do this the night before and trying to figure it out while at the festival was a hassle.
- Pack your bag and put it in the car or stroller
Since we were planning on walking with a stroller, so we had our bags packed and in the stroller the night before. If you’re driving, have everything in the car beforehand if it’s safe to do so. (See the next tip for what to pack.)
Tip 4: Packing List for Hot Air Balloon Festivals with Kids
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- Don’t forget to bring snacks!
In the Backpack
Here’s a list of what to pack in a backpack (to have free hands) to be prepared for the festival!
- Flashlight: Especially if you are going for the dawn patrol
- Toys, bubbles, other favorite entertainment: See more about this in the next tip
- Breakfast: Snacks saved us so many times when we saw meltdowns coming. There most likely will be food vendors there, but snacks are a necessity to fulfill those sudden needs.
- Other normal essentials like diapers, wipes, etc.
- Cash: We never carry cash, but many things were cash-only like parking and some vendors, so it’s good to bring some.
Other Necessities
- Blankets: It gets cold! And the kids actually loved having a blanket to cozy up outside. It’s like camping!
- Picnic blanket and/or chairs: Bring a water-resistant, foldable one. Having a place to sit or lay down at a hot air balloon festival is a must! Getting there so early in the morning, the ground will most likely be wet from the morning dew. You’ll also love looking up at all the balloons while laying on a blanket. We brought our foldable, water-resistant picnic blanket that could go under the stroller or strap onto us and it was perfect. If you have extra help, lawn chairs would also be nice too.
- Stroller: Having a stroller was so helpful not only to carry things in, but also to walk around to get Andrew to sleep. He was still tired from the early wake-up, and it was great to have the stroller as his place to nap!
Tip 5: Bring Entertainment for Your Kids
Yay for a toy vendor! (Side note: Tony got in a little accident before this – best dad ever for still making this festival happen!)
The hot air balloons, gorgeous sunrise, fun food, and all the people to watch should be plenty of entertainment when you’re there with just adults, but not when you’re with kids! Sometimes you might be stuck sitting in one place waiting for the balloons to launch, so bring some toys to entertain your kids. You know what they like!
We didn’t bring much, and we spent a lot of energy trying to distract our kids. We actually did see booths that sold bubbles and other toys so that was nice, but it’s easier to bring your own.
Tip 6: Dress Appropriately
Getting comfy in our spot with all of our stuff. 🙂
When going to a hot air balloon festival, you should wear layers and closed-toe shoes.
Layers because you are most likely going to be there before sunrise until the sun keeps you warm. Hot air balloons won’t launch in hot weather, which means you’ll be there when it’s still pretty chilly. So, dress for the cooler weather within layers that you can eventually take off if when it warms up outside.
Closed-toe shoes because of the morning dew, and you’ll likely be walking on dirt or grass. Also, if you do want to go on the hot air balloon (many festivals have tandem rides or real rides!), you are recommended to wear closed-toe, flat-soled shoes.
Tip 7: Get There Early (But Not Too Early)
Amazing sunrise – one of the best parts of going to a hot air balloon festival!
For many hot air balloon festivals, “dawn patrol” start as early as 4am. Dawn patrol is where you can see all the balloons light up in the dark, before sunrise. Not only do you get to see the “glow in the dark” hot air balloons, but you also get to see it with the backdrop of the sunrise. It’s an experience that’s totally worth waking your kids up for (maybe for the first time ever?!) and go!
But, you also know you and your family best. If your kids are extreme grumps and won’t enjoy anything that early–and in turn will make you feel miserable–then maybe compromise and go for the later, main launches. Even if you go for the dawn patrol, make sure you don’t get there too early because your family may get too antsy. Even for the famous Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, the dawn patrol doesn’t get too crowded, so no need to get there too early for that.
If it were just me, I would have been there at 4am to catch the dawn patrol and stayed the entire time. But going with 2 little kids that have the attention span of no more than an hour or two with any activity, I had to pick my battles and go for the main launch.
If you do decide to skip the dawn patrol and go for the main launches, you should try to get there about 45 minutes to an hour before the predicted launch time to grab parking and a nice spot for your picnic blanket. Any earlier and you may just have restless kids who will be impatient, but any later, and you may miss out on the take-off because of traffic and parking, or you might miss out on a great spot to sit.
Tip 8: Pick the Right Mode of Transportation within the Festival
The Sonoma County Hot Air Balloon Festival grounds are for the most part stroller-friendly, and many other festivals seem to be that way too. We had our lightweight stroller and we were fine, but bring your sturdy stroller to be safe.
When we wanted to walk around during the festival, though, carrying Andrew was the best way. The crowds made it hard to navigate the stroller, especially on the lawn. We did leave the stroller by our picnic blanket when we walked around, and it was completely fine (get to know your neighbors!).
Tip 9: Have a Plan for Meltdowns
Oh, meltdowns. We saw many at the festival, including from both of our kids. I think the crowd, the early morning rising, and all the colorful and fun things at the festival can be pretty overwhelming and over-stimulating for little kids.
Having a blanket to sit and get cozy was definitely the best thing to get the kids to chill out. Maybe bring a familiar book or some other familiar items to make your kids feel comforted.
We knew Henry (3-years-old) might be sensitive to all of this, so we prepared him the night before to let him know what we were doing. We assured him that we won’t be going on the hot air balloons (he was scared we may be going up in it), and it was going to be a fun party (he loves parties). This put him at ease, and we kept repeating these things during the festival when we saw that he was getting a little overwhelmed.
Tip 10: Agree on a Meeting Place
Tony and I had to separate a couple of times during the festival to wait for food, bathroom breaks, etc. We always said to just meet at the picnic blanket we placed. If your kids are old enough, it’s a good idea to communicate that plan if they get lost for any reason (knocking on wood that this would never happen!). We also said hello to our neighbors who had their picnic spot next to us too. Always a good idea–they know the blanket is yours, and even though we didn’t ask them to, naturally, we felt comfortable to leave our blanket and stroller, and vice versa; we would’ve looked out for their stuff, too!
Tip 11: Be Prepared for Potential Disappointment
With all the planning and anticipation, be prepared and know that you may not see the hot air balloons fly. Tony and I once went on a hot air balloon ride and was told by the pilot that there is a custom to drink champagne at the end of the flight when we land. You know why? Because you’ re so glad you’re still alive. (We were relieved to hear about this tradition after we landed.)
Hot-air-balloon-flying is serious business, and no matter what, even if there are 50,000+ people coming to see them fly and would be disappointed, they won’t fly if conditions are not ideal. So many factors determine whether hot air balloons will fly or not, and none of them are in our control since they’re due to weather and mechanical errors.
When we went to the Sonoma County Hot Air Balloon Classic with our kids, unfortunately, the winds were too strong for the balloons to take off. They did, however, try their best, waited for the wind to die down a little, and at least heated the balloons up so we got to see them blown up. If the winds were any stronger, we wouldn’t have been able to even see that!
To help you prepare for possibly not seeing the hot air balloons fly:
- Plan for multiple days: If you have the option, try getting tickets for multiple days so you can try again.
- Understand that it’s a possibility: It’s hard to prepare for such disappointment with all your hopes and planning, but at least knowing it’s a possibility will help.
- Lower your expectations: I say this about traveling with kids all the time, but just lower your expectations. At the very least, you will be at a fun festival, doing something exciting, making your dreams come true. You will see an amazing sunrise, you will meet interesting people, and you will still be proud you made this amazing experience happen!
There you have it!
Overall, we were a little sad that we didn’t get to see the balloons take off, but it was still so fun to see our kids checking out the balloons. And more of a reason to go back again next year! Also, going to this local festival really prepared us to take on bigger ones eventually.
My ultimate goal is to go to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta or Cappadocia (Turkey) one day, so we are so glad we got to test out the waters locally before making an even bigger commitment. We will definitely try going for multiple days next time in hopes of seeing these gorgeous and magical balloons fly!
Do you love bucket-list-worthy adventures? Read more here:
- 60+ Kid-Friendly Wineries near San Francisco You Would Want to Check Out
- 30+ Kid-Friendly Hikes in 49 Square Miles of San Francisco
- Top 5 Easy-Access Gorgeous Views in Sedona, Arizona
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