Plano Balloon Festival

Count the cowboy hats in this picture. I only see one. You just don't see them in Dallas. It's more of a Ft. Worth look. Even my Texas friends made jokes about mine when I wore it to meet them (it was raining, the hat is water-proof). I did see two Chargers shirts in this same crowd; unusual for a this area. We each paid $4 to get into the festival, and spent thirty minutes watching them inflate the balloons, then listened for the laughter as they floated off with our money. There was more to come though. Giant animal balloons that look drunk and sprawled out until they get air born.















As the sun set more balloons were inflated then used as giant lanterns in the dark by lighting their burners. The burners shoot a flame about twenty feet in the air; I know this because they lined up ten of them without their balloons and shot a row of giant towers of fire into the air.
Why?
So it would look cool.
It did.



Best shaped balloon was the "rain forest" one. I saw this balloon while driving through El Paso on my way out here back in May and wished then I had my camera to take a picture...
Got my wish.
Barbecue, funnel cakes, live bands, fun and games, fireworks... these people throw a pretty good picnic



I'll post more of my pictures without text separately
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