The Great Reno Balloon Race

Reno's claim is not about size but about price: it describes itself as the largest free ballooning event in the world, and the free part is the point rather than the footnote. It flies from a regional park a couple of miles from downtown, which is close enough to walk from a hotel. The calendar has the ones that charge.

The Dawn Patrol is Reno's contribution to ballooning generally. A small group of balloons qualified to fly in the dark lifts off before sunrise with their burners lighting the envelopes from inside, and the format has since been copied by festivals on four continents. It is the reason people set an alarm for four in the morning here.

The glow show exists because of the wait. Spectators arriving for a pre-dawn launch had an hour of darkness to fill, so the event added tethered balloons burning to music, which is now the second thing Reno is known for.

What free covers is the field, the ascent, the Dawn Patrol and the glow. What it does not cover is a flight: tethered rides are given away, and an actual passenger flight is a referral to an outside operator with its own prices and its own booking. The distinction catches out people who assume that a free event means a free ride.

September in the high desert means cold mornings and a wind that gets up as the sun does. The morning ascent is the dependable one, the schedule is built around it, and by mid-morning the balloons are packed and the park is empty.

It is run by a non-profit rather than by the city, which is what keeps the free admission from being renegotiated every few years. The park it flies from is a former ranch on the northern edge of Reno, large enough for a hundred envelopes on the ground at once and close enough to the casinos that the event functions as a September draw for a city whose calendar is otherwise built around them.