Crossroads Pumpkin Fest Expands Internet Presence

Crossroads Pumpkin Fest is now on Facebook and has a blog - http://crossroadspumpkinfest.blogspot.com/. You can sign up to receive feeds from the blog and be our friend on Facebook. Our Website has a different name - www.statesvillepumpkinfest.com because another festival already had the one we wanted. Our thanks to the Statesville Record & Landmark for helping us with our Website.

Hey, when you're at the festival, help us promote the festival by posting lots of images on Flickr, Facebook and other sites. We sure would appreciate your help!

We Welcome Your Photos

A lot of people showed up Saturday afternoon and Sunday to watch balloons. There were thousands of cameras. So if you took some photos, please feel free to email them to us and we'll consider posting them on this site. We also encourage you to post them on Flickr and other image bank Websites so we call can enjoy your pics!

Check out this link.

Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009

Strong winds are blowing the rain out of here so there is a much better chance that the balloons will go up this afternoon around 4:30 or so. Nothing's guaranteed, but the weather has significantly improved over earlier today!

Flew this morning

A media flight was held this morning for the Carolina BalloonFest. During the pilot briefing, we heard that the front moving in had a lot of wind and rain. But, there was a possible window of opportunity to fly anyway. So off we went.

Balloons were starting to inflate - and others were already in the air - when the shower hit. But, it didn't last long. Soon, all the balloons were in the air. The hot air from inside the balloon dried it out. As one pilot said, "My balloon has now had a bath!"

Skies are clearing now and the gates have just opened. If the winds die down a little, our balloons will fly this afternoon around 4:30 p.m. See you at the Statesville Regional Airport for the 36th Annual Carolina BalloonFest! For more information, visit http://www.carolinaballoonfest.com/.

Hot Air Balloon Rally This Coming Weekend

When you see hot air balloons in the air, they seem to just float. But the story’s different when they’re on the ground. They’re a sea of color stretched over the grass surrounded by a flurry of activity. Photos ops everywhere! Watch nearly 50 of them get inflated, glow and fly away at the 36th Annual Carolina BalloonFest in Statesville.


The event will be held on Friday, Oct. 23, Saturday, Oct. 24 and Sunday, Oct. 25 at the Statesville Regional Airport. It is the nation’s second-oldest continuously running hot air balloon rally.

But the festival isn’t just about balloons. There’s more.

On Saturday and Sunday, the Kid’s Fun Zone has free inflatable rides and competitive games. Arts and crafts are available at The Artisan Village and BalloonFest Market Place. Some of our state’s best wines will be available at the Carolina BalloonFest Wine Tasting.

The event is a benefit for The Dove House Children’s Advocacy Center and Hospice & Palliative Care of Iredell County.

The festival will be held rain or shine. However, wind or rain can impact whether or not the balloons fly. The parking lot and festival areas are not paved; handicapped parking is available.

Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for children ages 6-12 and free for age 5 and under. Wine tasting tickets are $15. Tickets can be purchased in advance at www.carolinaballoonfest.com or at the gate. Cash is the only method of payment for admission as credit card service is available only inside the festival.

Hours on Friday are from 3-6 p.m with the mass balloon ascension at 4:30 p.m.

On Saturday, gates open at 7 a.m. and the first flight of the day takes off at 8 a.m. Hometown Havoc starts the musical entertainment at 8:30 a.m., followed by acoustic sounds of Clay Lunsford from 10 a.m. to noon. The wine tasting and children’s activities areas open at 11 a.m.

At noon, magician Erik Dobell takes the stage to read your mind. A favorite from North Carolina’s Triad, Dobell incorporates telepathy, psycho kinesis, precognition and other forms of psychic phenomenon into his shows.

The tempo changes when The Reach Band plays cover tunes music at 2 p.m. Then, pilots start inflating their balloons in preparations for the 4:30 mass ascension. Photo opportunities abound!

The Part-Time Blues Band performs at 5 p.m. with a mix of blues and Southern rock. The breathtaking Time-Warner Cable Hot Air Balloon Glow begins at 6:30 p.m. It’s a marvelous event, as pilots and chase crews inflate balloons and display them on the ground. The burners which heat the air to inflate the balloons will light the inside of them, thus forming a “glow.”

On Sunday, gates open at 7 a.m. with the mass ascension and competition beginning at 8 a.m. Steering a balloon isn’t easy, but pilots will try to drop a marker to hit a target. The pilot who comes the closest wins a prize.

The Kids Fun Zone opens at 11 a.m. when Mt. Airy’s Mediocre Bad Guys perform. The group has played with The Little River Band and Bobby Keys, saxophone player for the Rolling Stones. The wine tasting starts at noon. The Mike Hager Group, from Charlotte, performs from 3-4 p.m. The final mass ascension takes place at 4:30 p.m. Gates close at 6 p.m.

The Statesville Regional Airport is located on Aviation Drive, off I-40 Exit 146 or Exit 148. Follow signs. Statesville is located at the intersection of I-77 and I-40 north of Charlotte. For more information, call the Greater Statesville Chamber of Commerce at 704-873-2892 or visit www.carolinaballoonfest.com.

Kids Play at Crossroads Pumpkin Fest

STATESVILLE, NC – Jack o’Lanterns beg creativity. Artists have elevated the orange globe’s face to works of art, showing detailed wisps of hair, fun-loving dimples, high cheekbones and sly grins. However, most of us still strive for basic eyes, nose and mouth – all backlit with a shimmering candle. We might show a few teeth and display our pumpkin for the world to see.
Or we’ll smash ‘em,
Kids can do so at the nationally award-winning 7th Annual Crossroads Pumpkin Fest on Saturday, Nov. 7 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Historic Downtown Statesville.
The event is one of the premier street festivals in central North Carolina and offers quite a bit for kids to do.
Small fry can play all day. They can smash pumpkins, paint them or bowl with them. The Kids Zone will offer a variety of amusement park rides all day long.
For larger kids, a cornhole tournament and skateboard races will be held throughout the day. Akin to horse shoes, corn holing has become a competitive sport for larger kids. And even kids with well-established gray hair will don their knee and shoulder pads and helmet, push off on their skateboard and race down Court Street. “They put on quite a show,” says Marin Tomlin, executive director of the Downtown Statesville Development Corporation. “Those guys, and some girls, can really hold their own next to the younger set!”
The Festival will include more than 50 art and craft exhibitors, food, three stages of foot-tapping entertainment, the WSIC Biggest Pumpkin Contest and the hilarious pumpkin pie eating contest. Organizers are ecstatic that The Extraordinaires will take center stage from 1:30-4:30 p.m. playing beach, rock and dance music. “We’re very lucky to get them,” said Tomlin. “I expect that we’ll have people boogying all afternoon. This group has members who have played with Harry Deal & The Galaxies, The Inkspots, Bruce Long Orchestra, The Original Drifters, The Platters, Dazzle and The Coasters.”
Admission to the festival is free, although some of the activities will charge a fee.
In May 2009, the media kit from the 2008 festival won First Place from the North Carolina Press Club and advanced to national competition. In September, the media kit was awarded Third Place by the National Federation of Press Women at their annual meeting in San Antonio.
For more information about the festival, log onto www.statesvillepumpkinfest.com, http://crossroadspumpkinfest.blogspot.com or call 704-878-3436.

October Events

Our town is hustling and bustling with all kinds of fun events for the entire family .... Carolina Balloon Fest ... Crossroads Pumpkin Fest ... Haunted Statesville ... Bring your camera!