Chapala en Globo, lakeside’s first ever hot-air balloon festival, went on as scheduled May 26-28, despite detrimental weather that hampered both the main attraction and some collateral activities.
A downpour broke out shortly after Friday evening’s opening ceremony at the Boca Laguna waterski club, causing a power failure and cancellation of the all-night concert program. Many campers folded their tents and headed home. Hold-outs and early risers huddled at dawn to watch as a dozen giant vessels were stretched out and inflated across the take-off field mired in sticky mud. A select few with deep pockets crawled aboard the gondolas for short flights to the nearby air field at Santa Cruz.
All balloons were grounded Sunday morning due to unfavorable wind conditions, a common occurrence according Al Lowenstein and David Fuller, two of the expert pilots brought in from the United States and Eastern Europe.
