…and was the catalyst to create and promote the sport of ballooning on the entire East coast of the United States. The community quickly embraced the event and ballooning overall. In 1977, the region welcomed the “Spirit of Glens Falls”, the balloon that became the trademark of the event. By the late 1970’s the event had already outgrown the college (only to return later for its Friday launch) and moved to Warren County Airport for its major launches. Also in 1977, Walter Grishkot and Phil Jackson were named co-organizers of the event. Mr Grishkot was named Organizer in 1978.

The Festival reached as high as 150 balloons in the mid 1980’s. The Board of Directors scaled that back to 100 balloons to make the festival more manageable and financially prudent.  Annual attendance continues to grow and has exceeded 175,000 people.  The Festival is one of the largest in the nation, an impressive feat when compared to others held in large cities like Alburquerque, New Mexico and Reno, Nevada.

A remarkable feat was accomplished in 1988 when Hurricane Hugo ravaged the East Coast. The event had to be cancelled yet it would unbelievably be rescheduled for one week later and almost all pilots attended. The Festival was forced to cancel the event in 2020 due to the Covid Pandemic, making national news like most other major events who followed in their footsteps. The Festival soared back in 2021 with major cooperation from the Warren County Public Health Department and the New York State Department of Health. The event was held with 40 balloons, however there were no food or craft vendors.

As one of the oldest events in the nation, second to only Alburquerque in terms of major events, the Festival assisted with the creation of many other ballooning events including: Quechee, VT, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Gatineau, Quebec, Dansville, NY, Morgantown, WV, and Cambridge, NY.  The event has often had international flairs with pilots attending from Great Britain, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands and Japan. The Festival was the centerpiece in creating a sister cities relationship with Saga, Japan which has brought political, cultural, educational and of course ballooning relationships amongst the two cities.

For all of its history the Festival has been open to the public free of charge The Adirondack Balloon Festival is organized by the Adirondack Hot Air Balloon Festival, INC. which is designated by the IRS as a 501(c)(6). The Festival is very unique in that there are no paid staff. All the committee members are volunteers dedicating thousands of hours annually to coordinate this wonderful community event. The Festival takes great pride by prioritizing vendor selection to focus on local not-for-profits first including: the Flying Farmers, SUNY Adirondack Student Association, Glens Falls Zonta Club, Rotary, Masons, and Open Door Ministries. The event has created the opportunity for these organizations to raise more than $900,000 to support their missions and reinvest it in our communities, further enhancing our quality of life.

The event has brought national and international exposure to Warren County and the Adirondacks. The Weather Channel and QVC have attended live several times.  The Food Network has also attended to produce shows from our event. The tragedy of 9/11 brought special meaning to the Festival. It was only two days prior to the start of the event that the Festival received FAA and Federal clearance to hold the event. The festival had all balloonists fly flags on their basket and a once in a lifetime event occurred when pilot Alan Emer climbed atop his balloon and waived the American Flag. It was a chilling moment for all with unprecedented press coverage going international.

Long time Event Director Walter Grishkot passed away in 2011. Walter was the “ideal” man, a publicist and promoter through and through. The event was in tribute to him that year and ever since the Sunday morning flight has been in his honor. Long time Board Director Mark Donahue took over the helm that year but reserved the organizer’s title for Walter. “The rock” of the Festival was Walter’s wife Joan. She was the ultimate administrator to compliment Walter as the promotor.  Joan passed unexpectedly in 2021. She was involved in the event up to her final days. The 2022 Festival was dedicated to her and the Board of Directors has renamed the Sunday morning flight, “Walt and Joan’s Mass Ascension”.