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October 5, 2012

Columbus Day Festival features hot air balloons

By Roger McKinney Globe Staff Writer

COLUMBUS, Kan. — The Hot Air Balloon Regatta will again be the centerpiece of the Columbus Day Festival today through Sunday. The festival is produced every year by the Columbus Chamber of Commerce. The Columbus Day Festival is in its 43rd year.

The hot air balloon events will be in the industrial park at Merle Evans Drive and U.S. Highway 69. The first will be a balloon glow, around 6:45 p.m.

Balloons lift off between 7 and 7:30 a.m. Saturday for the first race of the day. Another lift-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

The final balloon event will start between 7 and 7:30 a.m. Sunday.

There are 20 balloons entered.

A nonrefundable parking cost is $1 per person or $5 per carload. All balloon events depend upon ideal weather conditions.

Other events today include a scarecrow contest at noon on the north side of the courthouse square. A bean feed, sponsored by Commerce Bank, will be at 5 p.m. in the city park. There also will be games of bingo with prizes.

Entertainment on the square on Saturday includes the Columbus High School Music Department, Natalie’s Dance Studio and Flying Debris, a juggling act.

A car and motorcycle show will go on all day Saturday on the square. So will a quilt show, in the library.

In conjunction with the Columbus Day Festival, the Columbus Day Fall Classic clay shoot will go on at Claythorne Lodge on Saturday and Sunday.

Other Saturday events include:

  • Pancake breakfast, 7-10 a.m., First Presbyterian Church, 133 E. Pine St.
  • 5K walk, run, jog, 7:30 a.m., starts at Pine and Pennsylvania streets. Entry fee is $18.
  • Parade, 9:40 a.m.
  • Pie baking contest, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., under the gazebo on the square.
  • Gospel concert, 7 p.m. at Columbus High School auditorium with The Missourians and The Goulds.
  • Street dance, 8 p.m. to midnight, at the fairground, with Members Only.

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