Enjoying Winthrop Hot Air Balloon Festival to the Fullest
If you are looking at what to expect at the Winthrop hot air balloon festival in Washington State, I got you!
During the first weekend in March, the western-themed town of Winthrop, WA hosts the Winthrop Balloon Roundup. Hot air balloon tour companies and hobbyists join together to dot the skies with color!
This event has been on my bucket list for years. My family and I live on the other side of the Cascades and we finally made the trek over.
This is an account of our weekend and what you can expect if you are planning to attend!
Winthrop Balloon Roundup Schedule of Events
To give you a quick overview of the weekend, this is what’s scheduled for the Winthrop Balloon Roundup:
Friday:
7:00am – Balloon Launch (free)
7:00pm – Pilots’ Lift off Celebration (paid)
Saturday:
7:00am – Balloon Launch (free)
4:30pm – Sip & Stroll (paid)
5:30pm – Balloon Night Glow (free)
Sunday:
7:00am – Balloon Launch (free)
Winthrop Hot Air Balloon Festival – Friday
We drove into Winthrop on Friday night, so missed the balloon launch that morning. But we heard they had great weather and were able to go into town, something they can’t normally do due to wind directions.
All week, up until Friday morning, we were on standby on whether were going to be able to cross the North Cascades or not. The snow was making for treacherous roads.
I like to use WSDOT webcams for Stevens Pass and Snoqualmie Pass because you can see the road conditions in real time and they keep the road restrictions up to date.
Normally we would have taken Stevens Pass because that is more direct for us, but because the roads were looking sketch from the recent snowfall, we took Snoqualmie Pass, which is 1,000ft lower elevation, and had no problems whatsoever.
Late Friday afternoon we checked into our booked cozy cabin rental and settled in for the night.
Cute Cabin Rental
We booked the Cute Cabin (yes that’s the legal name lol!), a full house with all the kitchen amenities we needed, 2 fireplaces, 2 bedrooms plus a loft room, and right next to the Mazama ski trails. And it was dog friendly!
It was a super convenient 10 minutes from Winthrop and comfortable stay. I would def stay again!
My only two complaints were the internet wasn’t great and the heater was loud at night.
We didn’t go to the Pilot’s Lift Off Celebration, but it was held at the Casia Lodge and Ranch and you could meet with the Winthrop hot air balloon pilots while enjoying appetizers and desserts.
Winthrop Hot Air Balloon Festival – Saturday
We woke up early to be at the Balloon Roundup launch site at the Winthrop Inn by 6:45am.
As we were driving we were wondering how or if the balloons would be able to fly in the low cloud cover and the light snow dusting.
Winthrop Balloon Roundup
We parked in the the Methow Valley Thriftway parking lot like the website asked us to and there was only a handful of cars there, which made me wonder how popular or busy this festival actually gets.
The launch site was next door in a gravel parking lot behind the Winthrop Inn.
There was a couple of pop-up tents with coffee, breakfast, Snohomish Balloon Ride, and a vendor selling knit hats and gloves.
Hot air balloons were supposed be going up around 7:00am but there was only one that was inflating.
I was thinking that either everyone was running late or there was only one balloon that showed up to the festival.
Snohomish Balloon Ride blew up their hot air balloon and then Captain Bob got up on a trailer to address the crowd of only a couple hundred people.
Unsurprisingly, flights were canceled this morning due to weather.
Those who purchased balloon rides would be refunded, but that’s always the gamble for the festival weekend.
Captain Bob wanted to blow up the hot air balloon so people at least had something to look at. But since flights were canceled he was offering tethered rides 100ft up and we could buy tickets at the Snohomish Balloon Ride tent.
You better believe I booked it over there to be one of the first in line! I am too afraid of heights to want to go on a real hot air balloon ride, but I really wanted to know what the experience is like.
For $25 I could get a taste of it, so I took full advantage of the opportunity!
They allowed 8 people into the basket at a time, which was pretty crowded I gotta say.
I didn’t have to wait long for my turn as I was able to get into the second trip.
Because of physics, people had to get out of the basket one at a time with the new person immediately replacing the one getting off. The balloon had just the right amount of air needed for the 8 people that were in it, so when one person got out, the hot air balloon immediately wanted to rise. So people had to hold the balloon down while people climbed in and out.
Climbing into the basket made me feel like a kid in a playground. You had to step into holes on the side of the basket and swing your legs over the edge.
Once in the basket I simultaneously felt both safe and unstable. I could feel the basket weaving underneath the tarp that covered the floor; it was definitely not a solid box.
When we took off, I couldn’t even tell when we left the ground as the ascent was so smooth. There was no resistance or force. Just up.
I felt a queasy when we reached the 100ft mark and the ropes tethering us stopped us from going higher, swinging the balloon a little bit.
I am super sensitive to motion sickness, even on a playground swing set. This felt just like being on a swing. It wasn’t terrible but I could tell that there might be the potential for worse if I had been on a full length flight.
The view from the top was not spectacular, but it was nice. It was more fun looking down on the people below.
We hung out for a couple of minutes before descending.
Exiting the basket was a lot less graceful for me than it was getting in. I don’t know why it was harder or more awkward, but everyone else also had issues getting out too. Maybe it was because of the crowdedness inside the basket and not wanting to whack the other passengers.
I wouldn’t necessarily say that $25 was worth the 5min ride but I am glad I did it so I have an idea of what a hot air balloon ride is, because I don’t know if/when I’ll ever have that opportunity again.
Killing Time Between Winthrop Balloon Festival Events
During the later part of the morning we enjoyed getting coffee in Twisp at Blue Star Coffee Roastery (which we beat the crowds to) and window shopping in Winthrop (which was not as busy as you would expect during a festival weekend).
We then went back to the cabin rental to chillax, have lunch, take a walk on the Methow Winter Trails next to the house, and take afternoon naps before heading back into town.
Winthrop Balloon Roundup Sip & Stroll
At 4:30pm we came back to town to do the Winthrop Balloon Roundup Sip & Stroll.
For $25 we were given 5 drink tickets and a commemorative glass cup. Participating boutique shops served alcohol in our sample glasses so we could sip while we browsed the stores.
This was definitely a small town event, not the caliber we are used to at the Snohomish Wine Walks.
It started out as quite the fiasco for us until we got into our rhythm. It’s one of those “you had to be there” moments, but here’s the quick synopsis:
- Somehow we had downloaded last year’s map so the first store we entered wasn’t participating and we got them (and us) confused
- While it was advertised as a wine walk, it really should have been labeled an alcohol walk; the shops served whatever they felt like: mulled wine, cider, beer, sangria, and cheap-o wine.
- We had 5 tasting tickets but there were 6 shops participating so we had to be careful and picky in our choices
- Besides the cider, none of the drinks were available for purchase, not that we were interested.
- Ironically the only thing we did want to purchase was homemade jalapeno jelly served as an appetizer but it wasn’t even for sale.
I would not recommend doing this Sip & Stroll.
Being an hour away from Chelan, wine country, I was expecting local wineries to promote and serve their wine at this event. Instead, we were served sad mulled wine and Cupcake wine.
Unless they up their game in the future, this is a hard pass for me.
Winthrop Balloon Night Glow
The Winthrop Balloon Night Glow, or Glow Up was definitely where it was at for the day.
At around 4pm, half of Winthrop’s main street was closed off so the smaller hot air balloons could inflate in the road.
Thousands of people showed up, observing from the boardwalk sidewalks and even milling around the balloons, touching the canvas as they inflated. 6 balloons filled the street.
It really had a Disneyland parade crowd type atmosphere.
I found an uncrowded balcony above Carlos1800 Mexican Grill And Cantina to observe the excitement from above; it was like a “secret spot”!
Before seeing how the hot air balloon operated that morning, I was expecting the balloons to be perpetually lit like night lights. But I quickly realized that’s not how they work.
The balloons were not all lit at the same time as each hot air balloon was inflated as needed. Basically, the balloons took turns turning the fire on.
It was still cool!…i mean warm. It’s crazy how much heat radiates from those flames, warming the streets!
We left before the very end because we wanted to make sure we got a seat for dinner at Jupiter (I don’t recommend eating here btw; our supposed-to-be hot food was cold).
We suspect that most of the crowd was locals and not tourists because when we left dinner less than an hour later, the balloons were gone and the crowds had disappeared. They didn’t appear to stick around for dinner afterwards.
Winthrop Hot Air Balloon Festival – Sunday
Winthrop Balloon Roundup
Sunday morning was crisp and clear and we had high hopes that the balloons would fly. We packed up our stuff, closed out the rental, and headed back to the Winthrop Inn to hopefully catch the hot air balloons.
As we drove up around 7:30am we could already see the crowd of balloons peaking over the buildings and a couple in the air already.
Huzzah!
We found parking behind Ace Hardware and enjoyed the festive chaos: balloons inflating haphazardly all over the gravel lot, people getting in the way of trailers trying to park, everyone photobombing each other’s pictures.
It was actually a grand ol’ time!
We counted 17 participating balloons.
There was even an Amazon Aeronauts balloon.
It was so colorful having the hot air balloons on the ground, in the air, and all around. So much fun!
They were particularly picturesque floating over the river.
We left after about 45 minutes and enjoyed the view of them floating over the countryside with the mountains as a backdrop.
Cars were parked on the shoulder of hills offering scenic views or turned into Witte Road to see them over the fields.
You Might Also Like These Other Washington Festivals:
Skagit Valley Tulip Festival
Penn Cove Musselfest
Snohomish Pumpkin Patches
Was the Winthrop Balloon Roundup Worth It?
The Winthrop hot air balloon festival has been on my bucket list for many years. If I didn’t live 6hrs away, I would totally say it’s worth it!
But between the uncertainty of driving through the mountain passes in the winter and the long car drive for a weekend, I don’t anticipate coming back to it anytime soon.
But yes, I think the Winthrop Balloon Roundup is definitely worth doing once!
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