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.

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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.

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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:

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