Yesterday was the Kentucky Derby Festival’s Great Balloon Race; we went to watch nearly 50 balloons fill up and take off in the race. 

How it works

The Great Balloon Race follows a combination of a “Declared Goal” and the
traditional ballooning game of “Hare and Hound” race format. The U.S. Bank
balloon leads the action as “the Hare”. And, as any good hound would do, the
other balloons spawn an aerial chase of the Hare, launching in a planned
sequence minutes after the Hare.

The winds determine where the balloons fly. The Hare Balloon flies until it
finds a suitable spot, preferably in a vacant field. It lands and lays out a
large fabric “X” as the target. In hot pursuit, the Hounds try to drop a small
bag of Kentucky Bluegrass seed as close to the “X” as possible, all without
landing. Race officials then measure the distance between the target and the bag
of grass seed at the target zone and calculate points.

The pilot with the most accurate toss is the overall winner receiving $3000
and bragging rights for a year!

Click here for a photo slide-show of the event from our perspective.