The International Balloon Festival of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu is the largest hot air balloon festival in Canada. It is held each August in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, about 20 minutes southeast of Montreal and about halfway between Montreal and Vermont.
The festival is situated at the Saint-Jean Airport and weather permitting (no storm activity detected within range, 50 km (31 mi), and winds above 12 km/h (7.5 mph)), there are two flight launches each day: a morning flight at 6:00 am and an evening flight between 6:00 and 7:00 pm. Other festival activities include amusement rides, musical and comedy shows and "Nuits magiques" (tethered night flights).
Famous quotes containing the words balloon and/or festival:
“When I am on a stage, I am the focus of thousands of eyes and it gives me strength. I feel that something, some energy, is flowing from the audience into me. I actually feel stronger because of these waves. Now when the play’s done, the eyes taken away, I feel just as if a circuit’s been broken. The power is switched off. I feel all gone and empty inside of me—like a balloon that’s been pricked and the air’s let out.”
—Lynn Fontanne (1887–1983)
“The surest guide to the correctness of the path that women take is joy in the struggle. Revolution is the festival of the oppressed.”
—Germaine Greer (b. 1939)