High-Flying Annual Festival to Rise Again

While most Southern Californians are snug in their beds on the weekend mornings of May 19 and 20, thousands of people will be gathering in a huge grassy field in the rolling countryside of Temecula.

They usually arrive at 5 a.m., when the gates of the seventh annual Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival, this year at Rancon Park, open. And they will watch in fascination as 35 rainbow-colored hot air balloons are inflated, slowly growing to their full size eight of 10 stories in height.

Measured bursts from propane jets will heat the air inside the rip-stop nylon envelopes and the balloons will lift off to catch the wind, carrying pilots and passengers aloft in races at 7 a.m. on both days.

Balloon pilot Dean Allen Ekdahl, owner of Dae Flights, estimates that 25,000 people were on hand last year when he lifted off in one of the races.

These are “hare and hound” races, which means the “hare” balloon takes off first and the pilot marks an “X” wherever it lands. The other balloon pilots follow the “hare” and drop bags on the “X.” Winners are those closest to the mark.

This is not as easy as it sounds. You can’t steer a hot air balloon; you can only move up or down--by heating the air or not heating the air--to catch a breeze that will carry the balloon to the destination, said Ekdahl.

The balloons are just part of the attractions at the festival, which will include a Children’s Faire, a Country Faire with crafts such as quilts and silk flowers, a Home and Garden Show with an assortment of home and garden improvement ideas, a kite exhibition, tethered hot air balloon rides and a wine tasting. Festival entertainment will include a Dixieland band, the Mamas and Papas on stage May 19 at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. and Jerry Lee Lewis on May 20 at 5 p.m.

Ten Temecula Valley wineries will be represented at the festival: Baily Winery, Maurice Carrie Winery, Callaway Vineyard and Winery, Cilurzo Vineyard and Winery, French Valley Vineyards, Filsinger Vineyard and Winery, The Hart Winery, Mount Palomar Winery, the John Piconi Winery and Clos du Muriel Winery. Wine tasting is $10, which includes a commemorative glass and sips of seven wines of your choice. Each winery will pour two wines.

“Our main purpose is to let the people . . . know what wineries are here,” Van Roekel says. “Most of all, they are usually surprised that there is wine country in Southern California.”

Another highlight of the festival will be the Kite Spectacular and Kite Team Competition scheduled at 10 a.m. and noon on both days. Four internationally renowned teams plan a stunt competition and a display of kite flying choreographed to ballet music. Children will be invited to participate in a kite building contest and will have an opportunity to fly their creations.

Meanwhile, youngsters can also find entertainment at the Children’s Faire, where games, educational activities, a special food area and activities such as ceramics painting and T-shirt painting will be offered.

Several of the hot air balloon companies that fly out of Temecula will staff information booths at the festival and people who want a brief taste of the experience can take a five-minute tethered ride for $15. For a tethered ride, passengers climb into a balloon’s wicker gondola and ascend 50-100 feet, while the balloon remains attached to the ground with a long rope.

“A lot of people don’t have the resources to pay for a whole ride ($100 to $150 per person) and they just want to get the feel of it and say they’ve been up in a balloon before, and you do get a nice view from there too,” says Ekdahl.

Most people are surprised by how “very peaceful” ballooning is, Ekdahl says. “A lot of times they’ll think it’s like a thrill-seeker ride, but it’s not. It’s probably the most peaceful thing you’ll ever do.”

Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival, May 19 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., May 20 from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Temecula is on the border of Riverside and San Diego counties. The festival is located at the intersection of Diaz and Cherry roads. From Los Angeles or Orange County, take the 91 Freeway east to Interstate 15. Go south to Rancho California Road, exit and turn right. Go to Diaz Road and make a right and continue to Cherry Road. Parking is free. For information, call (714) 676-6713. Adults $6, children under 6 free.