The QuickChek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning is the largest summertime hot air balloon and music festival in North America and it took place this past weekend, July 28-30th.

Every summer I tell myself I’m going to make it out there and I honestly don’t know why – but it just never worked out. This year though I knew I had to make it happen! Some of my family from North Jersey as well as Pennsylvania wanted to join so we decided to attend on Sunday and 100% knew we wanted to make it there for the 6:30am balloon ascension.

I was really surprised by how many people were already on line and waiting for the gate to open at 6am sharp. There was only 1 balloon setting up and I noticed people gravitating towards that section so we went further out since we knew a lot more would be coming and it allowed us to have our pick of where we wanted to set our chairs.

Seeing the balloons blowing up and then taking off was a breathtaking experience. The weather was absolutely perfect too which was a plus. While the balloons may be the main attraction for this festival there is so much to do for all ages throughout the day/night. There was a ton of rides and inflatables for kids, arts & crafters, magicians, fireworks, concerts, food vendors and the list goes on. One of my favorite activities was the tethered balloon ride which I made sure to get on. Overall I am kicking myself for waiting so long to attend The QuickChek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning! I will 10000% be there again next year. Click HERE to bookmark their website so you stay up to date with next years festival. If you are interested in booking a hot air balloon ride (which I HIGHLY recommend, I have done it before and the experience is like no other!) you will want to do so early on. Here are some shots from my day: