Wellsville, New York
The 3rd weekend of every July, brings a festival unlike many others. Nestled in the beautiful Genesee River Valley, the picture perfect rolling green hills, backdrop the stunning colours and fun shapes of the balloons. The Balloon Rally, celebrated it's 49th year running in 2026 with a massive success.
But! The launches aren't the only events held during the Fri-Sun Event! Friday evening sees a fun show in Island Park, where the Balloons and Crews give a different kind of light show during the Afterglow. Enjoy a wide variety of food and drink vendors along with some carnival style games, while the park lights up around you.
Just remember to give yourself enough time to park at one of the designated parking areas in town, as parking at Island Park is limited and fills up quickly!
Who Makes It Happen? Why Does Weather Matter So Much?
The Balloon Rally is an amalgamation of many moving parts. The entirety of the venue is ran by volunteers. The committee, Pilot Crews, First Responders, Sponsors, Gift Donors, Everyone takes their own time, money and efforts to bring this together.
That said, we are all at the mercy of Mother Nature during the event. Aside from the obvious with rain being an all around bummer for everyone, making it impossible to lift off with balloons, and potentially miserable to walk around the Main Street Sales. The Balloons are limited on what wind speeds they can launch in. It can seem like the absolute perfect day to the rest of us, but the balloons need 5mph or less to launch, BUT!!! you have to also remember that they fly!! So wind speeds at different levels of altitude are also a key factor on having a successful launch. We promise, no one is more upset than those of us who brought all of this together and the pilots when the weather just doesn't cooperate.
We have multiple people that are constantly making on the field tests, checking with local, and national weather institutes, watching radar, and some good old fashioned rubber balloon (the piebald) test flights. These Pilots are amazing at what they do, and their decisions are final. Safety is always priorities 1,2 and 3!
A Long Fun Day
Unlike the night before, where ALL of the festivities occur in Island Park. Saturday starts in Island Park at 6am, oh.....did we mention how early these morning flights are? No? Put on your coffee or swing by Dunkins on your way down. The Pilots meeting at 6 will determine if they have the morning launch. Announcements for all launches will be posted on the Official Great Wellsville Balloon Rally Facebook page, and over the loudspeakers in the park.
After a hopefully successful morning launch, you can meander over to the Main Street "Sidewalk Sales". 2025 had the largest number of vendors in the Rally's History. Starting at 9am and ending at 4pm, You will find a very wide array of different goods, ranging from local artists, food, craftsman, trinkets, and everything in between.
Here at bearitallphotos LLC we would highly suggest having an afternoon siesta to re-coop a bit before the evening fun begins. It can be very hot and humid during this weekend, so make sure to hydrate (maybe enjoy some concessions from one of our local vendors).
After you've had a short break, you can start heading back to the park around 5, find a good seat quick!! As Saturday night, fills the park with thousands of viewers, if you bring a chair there is plenty of grassy areas to set up. Keep your fingers crossed for another successful launch and afterglow event (though Friday's afterglow is now much larger and longer then Saturday's) this is due to the amazing fireworks display put on in the park once it's dark enough.
And hey, if sitting and watching the Balloons isn't enough for you, you are more than welcome to hop in your car and aid the chase teams in following their airborne crews. You might even get a chance to help them take down and pack up the Balloons! If you do chase the Balloons, make sure to do so safely, and legally. Sometimes the balloons land on private property and the property owners don't need 40 people swarming their homes, blocking driveways etc. So please be courteous to the locals when pursuing this avenue of fun.
Sunday
Sunday morning at 6am once again, you'll have your last chance to catch a launch. For the public, this is the last event of the weekend, so if you've made the effort of traveling a ways, we would highly suggest getting up early for it. After the launch the town quiets back down. The bounce house in the park gets packed away and the vendors head home as well. The volunteers for the weekend still have a few matters to attend to, like a brunch after the launch, where they recognize those who have gone above and beyond either for the festival, or those who have earned lifetime achievements.
Visit the official site
