What's new at Lisle's Eyes to the Skies balloon festival? Motocross
Eyes to the Skies - a festival known for its overhead entertainment of hot air balloons and nightly fireworks - this year will offer a new ground-based amusement: motocross stunts.
Lisle's annual balloon festival opens Friday, July 1, and features balloon launches and glows, concerts and family entertainment through Sunday, July 3, in Lisle Community Park, 1825 Short St.
For the first time, motocross stunts will be part of the lineup, with shows beginning at 2:30 and 7 p.m. each day in the festival's children's area.
But the signature hot-air balloon launches are the main events at this Independence Day weekend celebration.
On each of the three days, licensed balloon pilots will float away on air currents, with launches planned each morning and evening to mesmerize the festival crowds. Pilots also will guide tethered balloon rides available to the public each evening.
The festival also features a full lineup of children's activities, live music, fireworks, a craft fair and dozens of food vendors.
The Lisle summer tradition, started in 1982, is presented by the Eyes to the Skies Committee, a nonprofit group that counts Lisle Lions Club member Debbie Starr as a member.
Starr and her fellow organizers get a lot of help from the community.
"We have more than 450 volunteers," said Starr, the festival's volunteer chairperson.
She said volunteers serve soft drinks and alcoholic beverages, sell tickets and help out in the children's area and on the balloon field. They also collect debris, staff the information booth and help with festival setup and teardown.
Volunteers sign up for four-hour shifts and receive a T-shirt while supplies last, a meal ticket and an admission ticket. Volunteers may designate to which of several organizations they'd like to donate their volunteer hours, Starr said.
Starr said remaining volunteer opportunities are listed on the festival's website at eyestotheskies.org. Though organizers encourage volunteers to sign up early, Starr said last-minute volunteers won't be turned away.
The festival is open noon to 11 p.m. each day, but balloon watchers should set their alarms for the pre-dawn hours to catch each day's morning launch about 5:30 a.m., wind conditions and weather permitting. There is no charge to witness the balloons as they are carried aloft in the morning.
A second launch is planned for 6:30 p.m. daily. To see those launches up-close, spectators will need to pay the $8 festival admission fee.
Some balloons are the familiar-shaped "sport" variety, colorfully spotted, striped or color-blocked. Others are character balloons. This year, organizers said, there will be an elephant, a snow bird and a spaceship-themed balloon. In all, there will be more than 20 balloons.
A balloon named Serena's Song, with a wheelchair-accessible passenger basket, will offer tethered rides to people with disabilities each morning and evening. To reserve a ride, contact SEASPAR at seaspar.org.
The public has the chance to board a balloon for a tethered ride from 6 to 9 a.m. and 5 to 9 p.m. each day. Rides cost $20 per person.
Balloons will be anchored to the ground and illuminated at 8:15 a.m. each evening, creating a "balloon glow."
The top of the festival's music ticket includes Nashville-based country duo Thompson Square, set to perform on the VanKampen Main Stage at 8 p.m. Saturday. Big Head Todd and the Monsters is the 8 p.m. Sunday headline act, while Beatles-tribute band American English headlines at 8 p.m. Friday. Opening acts take the stage at 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday and at 5 p.m. Sunday.
The Riverview Stage will present musical acts from 5 to 11 p.m. Friday and from 1 to 11 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Children's events include Miss Jamie's Farm interactive puppet shows, Hawaiian dancers, the Flying Fool juggler, theater presentations, a reptile show and singalongs. Kids also can look forward to crafts, games, temporary tattoos, balloon twisting and a variety of vendor displays and demonstrations.
More than 50 artists will display their crafts at the festival craft fair, said Katie Palombit, service coordinator for the Lisle Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Food will be in plentiful supply, she said, with dozens of vendors offering traditional festival fare such as sandwiches, pizza, tacos, gyros, ice cream, Italian ices and sweet corn.
A fireworks show will top off each of the three festival nights at 9:45 p.m., weather permitting.
A carnival operates in Community Park before and during the Eyes to the Skies festival. The carnival opens Wednesday, June 29, and continues through Sunday, July 3. Carnival wristbands, $25, offer unlimited rides from 5 to 11 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday. Those who wish to attend the carnival only can enter for free near Eyes to the Skies' west gate.
If you go
What: Eyes to the Skies Festival
When: Noon to 11 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, July 1 to 3
Where: Lisle Community Park, 1825 Short St., Lisle
Admission: $8, free for children 6 and younger; free on Sunday for active and veteran military
Info: eyestotheskies.org