Alberta Hot Air Balloon Festival Takes Flight to Spotlight Mental Health Issues

Several hot air balloons float in the sky above a city in a photo file. Shutterstock/Thitisan

A high-flying festival in Medicine Hat, Alta., is raising money and awareness for mental health issues.

The Rise Up Hot Air Balloon Festival will run May 23–26, where hot air balloon pilots from around North America will take part in the event. The festival was started by Willy and Cindy Taillon in collaboration with Our Collective Journey, a non-profit that works to improve the Alberta mental health care system.

“Rise Up means a lot of things to us,” Mr. Taillon said in a 2023 promotion video. “For me, it was rising up out of the pandemic and challenging myself and learn something new.”

He said when they partnered with the non-profit group Our Collective Journey, it created an additional meaning for the term “rise up.”

“They are helping people rise up from their struggles or get them help. Rise Up to me just resonates in so many ways.”

This year’s event will offer visitors a chance to ride in a hot air balloon. Tickets are $350 and can be booked online.

“I enjoy flying my balloon because it’s peaceful,” Mr. Taillon said in the video. “It’s a new adventure every flight.”

The event website says that a hot air balloon ticket is an investment in a “journey of awe and serenity, where the mundane fades away, and the extraordinary takes flight.”

The event will feature a market in the downtown area on May 25, as well as food trucks, face painting, bouncy castles, a movie, a kids’ art party, and a business decorating contest.

“Numerous businesses have been busy decorating their establishments with positive messaging and hot air balloon-themed creativity,” the event’s Facebook page said.

Categories for the contest are creativity, theme, overall attractiveness and appeal, plus a bonus award.

Seven flight times are planned over the four days, according to the website. Visitors are invited to the free, family-friendly event to see the balloons float over the sky, and an opportunity to see the balloons up close against a Medicine Hat sunset. Balloon Glow Events will be in Kin Coulee Park, and the hot air balloons will be tethered to the ground in the evening with propane burners ignited to keep them inflated. Visitors are invited to mingle and get close to the hot air balloons.

All hot air balloon flights will depend on the weather conditions, with updates being provided regularly at the event.