CORDOVA, Md. - The Chesapeake Balloon Festival gets underway this weekend in talbot county.
But getting it 'off the ground' was a bit difficult.
Vendors are getting ready for this weekends Chesapeake Balloon Festival at Triple Creek Winery. But getting to this point was challenging. The event's organizer Alex Spies originally wanted to hold the event in Harford County. But the county turned him away over traffic safety concerns. Spies then approached Worcester County for the event. But was shot down again due to short notice.
Spies says, "For both the places, it was a safety concern of their own for not knowing how to deal with a lot of people."
Earlier this month, Worcester County Sheriff Matt Crisafulli said the county needed more time to plan for the balloon festival.
Crisafulli says, "For a large scale event like, this typically for proper prior planning, we're looking at like a year out so that we can have the organizer go through planning and zoning."
But Spies was determined to have a balloon festival. In a week and a half he secured the necessary permits to hold the event this weekend in Talbot County. He succeeded by scaling down the event from 100 vendors to about 30 and fewer hot air balloons.
Spies says, "Because of the last minute move, it'll be less people to handle so it's much simpler. But it's the same staff doing it last year, same staff doing it this year."
In regard to any safety concerns, Spies says he has his own team of security and EMS on stand by.
The festival is from Aug. 25-27.
Spies says with enough time to plan, he hopes to bring his balloon festival to Worcester County next year.