Hot Air Balloon Festival @ Mastropietro Winery Sunday 8/26

Mastropietro is probably my most visited local winery. I love the beautiful setting they have outside and the cozy atmosphere inside. Oh...and the wine is YUMMY! I hope to write more on this diamond in the rough soon. But until then I just had to share a super fun annual event they are having this weekend!

Courtesy of their website, please visit it for more info and details about the winery itself!

http://mastropietrowinery.com/

Sunday August 26th
Fourth Annual Hot Air Balloon Festival

The Winery will be open from 1:00 PM to 9:00 PM.
The Berlin Township Fire Department Volunteers will assist in parking cars.

Please note that there will be a $5.00 per person entrance fee for this event (children under 13 free of charge). This is the only event that the Winery charges an admission fee. The fee is used to help defray the various costs of the many entertainments and bringing in the balloonists.

Rachel's Restaurant & Catering will be preparing food on premise from 1:30 to 7:30 PM - you order directly from their cooking area and they will prepare your fresh meal and deliver it to you.

The John Reese Quartet will be playing jazz from 4:30 to 8:00 PM.

This is a kid-friendly day. There will be two clowns performing magic tricks, fashioning balloon animals and entertaining the kids with their antics from 1:30 to 3:30 and then again from 4:00 to 6:00 (gotta give them a break you know!). There will also be Face Painting by local students up on the Gazebo during that same time frame. An attended Bounce Around will be set up near the front pavilion from 1:30 to 6:30 PM (Note: kids must remove shoes and wear socks to go inside the Bounce Around). The Berlin Township Fire Station will have kid-friendly snacks and drinks available for purchase throughout the afternoon near the gravel drive.

Six hot air balloons are scheduled to arrive around 5:30/6:00-ish depending on the weather. Rick will set up his Balloon Gondola in advance so you can see and touch what the balloonists actually fly in and, if you want to take a photo or two, Rick is not opposed to that. Balloon take off is totally regulated by FAA guidelines and the weather. The winery has no say in whether the balloons actually take off, nor when they take off. In past years, the balloons have inflated and have taken off somewhere between 6:30 and 8:00 PM.

Interested in a ride? Weather permitting, a balloon ride is $170.00 per person (this is discounted from the normal $200 to $225 fee). Children under 10 cannot ride, and children 11+ must be accompanied by a parent. Payment is by check or cash only. If planning to fly, it is suggested that you wear cotton clothing, tennis shoes and bring a light jacket just in case it gets chilly. Pilots reserve the right to deny access to their aircraft to anyone who is not acceptably fit or capable of a flight. If you want to reserve a flight, please email Rick at rakoh77@yahoo.com