Ottawa area Museums and Galleries
Ottawa area Fairs and Festivals
Ottawa area Historic sites and attractions
Kingston area Museums and attractions
Toronto area Museums and attractions
Niagara Falls area Museums and attractions
Highway 401 area Museums and attractions
Laurentians area Museums and attractions
Gatineau Hot Air Balloon Festival
The official web site is www.montgolfieresgatineau.com
The festival is held over the Labour day weekend and has grown considerably since it was started in 1988. In fact over 150 hot air balloons including many special shaped ones have been seen in the air over the festival grounds, I was not able to get any photos of these but I hope to get some at next years festival. The Hot-air balloons can be seen from many vantage points other than the festival grounds and one of the favorite spots is Rockcliffe Park. The festival grounds offer a variety of amusement park rides along with a full line-up of concerts for those who wish to be on site for the lift-off times which are usually 6:00am and 5:30pm Parking is plentiful but you may have a long walk to reach the festival grounds along with an admission charge.
Click on any photo to enlarge.
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Pros
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You'll never see so many colorful Hot air balloons anywhere period
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To view the balloons you don't need to be on site
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If you decide to visit the grounds you can expect a miniature Super-Ex
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Concert series showcase great Canadian talent
Cons
- Admission is pricey for a family
- Parking is on a field and the walk can be far
