{"id":2259,"date":"2025-10-14T07:44:31","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T07:44:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/2259\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T07:44:31","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T07:44:31","slug":"plano-balloon-festival-parking-launch-times-and-other-things-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/2259\/","title":{"rendered":"Plano Balloon Festival: Parking, launch times, and other things to know"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Plano Plano Balloon Festival underway now!<\/a> <\/p>\n

All eyes on the skies this weekend! FOX 4’s Payton May is live at the Plano Balloon Festival with a special interview while in the basket of a hot air balloon.<\/p>\n

PLANO, Texas – All eyes will be on the skies in Plano this weekend for the 2025 H-E-B Central Market Plano Balloon Festival.<\/p>\n

FOX 4 is a proud sponsor of the event that attracts over 100,000 people.<\/p>\n

There will be hot air balloons, live music, fireworks, 5K run, classic car show, kid\u2019s fun zone, and food at Oak Point Park.<\/p>\n

“This is a very family-friendly event. We encourage everyone to bring their family and enjoy this. You know, this has become a legacy event. It\u2019s 46 years old, so we see families that are coming now that came as children,” said Jo Via, the executive director of the Plano Balloon Festival.<\/p>\n

The fun continues through Sunday.<\/p>\n

\"\" Where is the Plano Balloon Festival? <\/p>\n

The balloon festival in Plano runs from 5 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 18 through 11 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 21 at Oak Point Park.<\/p>\n

The physical address is 2801 E. Spring Creek Parkway, Plano, TX 75074.<\/p>\n

Where can I park? <\/p>\n

Parking is available around Oak Point Park at the following locations:<\/p>\n

Collin College Spring Creek Campus
2800 E. Spring Creek Parkway, Plano, Texas 75074<\/p>\n

Oak Point Recreation Center
6000 Jupiter Road, Plano, Texas 75074<\/p>\n

First United Methodist Church
3160 E. Spring Creek Parkway, Plano, Texas 75074<\/p>\n

Community Unitarian Universalist Church
2875 E Parker Road, Plano, Texas 75074<\/p>\n

Parking costs $15. Only credit, debit, and Apple Pay are accepted, so don\u2019t bring cash.<\/p>\n

Discounted off-site parking is also available at the Plano Events Center (2000 E. Spring Creek Parkway, Plano, Texas 75074), or you can park at the DART Parker Road Station and catch a free bus ride to the festival.<\/p>\n

For directions, visit planoballoonfest.org\/p\/about\/parking<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\" When do the balloons launch? <\/p>\n

The hot air balloons will launch at 7 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, weather permitting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If it\u2019s too windy, it\u2019s not safe for the pilots to fly. So, they may only inflate their balloons in the launch field.<\/p>\n

This year, the balloons will also be inflated and illuminated at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re planning to attend one of the balloon glows, you may also want to arrive early to see the parachute team\u2019s exhibitions at 6 p.m. and then stay late for fireworks shows at 9 p.m.<\/p>\n

For a full list of events, visit planoballoonfest.org\/events<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\" How much does it cost? <\/p>\n

Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children and senior citizens. Babies under 36 inches are free. You can also get in free with a military ID.<\/p>\n

An all-day unlimited ride wristband for the Kid\u2019s Fun Zone is $20, or individual ride tickets are $2.50 each. Face painting and game vendor prices are separate.<\/p>\n

On-site parking costs $15.<\/p>\n

There will be no cash accepted at the ticket booth this year. So, bring a credit card, debit card, or Apple Pay for parking, admission, and ride tickets. Some third-party vendors and food trucks may still accept cash.<\/p>\n

To buy tickets online, visit planoballoonfest.org\/p\/tickets<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What will the weather be like? <\/p>\n

According to the FOX 4 Weather team, there could be a storm or two in North Texas on Friday afternoon. Otherwise, it will be hot again with light winds. A pollution watch is in effect.<\/p>\n

Saturday and Sunday will be similar with south winds and hot air. A few small disturbances are capable of triggering isolated storms. Saturday is likely to be dry with temperatures in the low 90s and winds around 15 mph. On Sunday, we may see slightly more storm coverage at 20%, with stronger winds up to 22 mph and noticeably more humidity.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s at the FOX 4 booth? \"Visit <\/p>\n

Stop by the FOX 4 booth right behind the FOX 4 Main Stage to see some familiar faces and spin the wheel to win prizes based on your favorite shows.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Source: The information in this story comes from the Plano Balloon Festival website and live coverage from the event.<\/p>\n

Plano<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Plano Balloon Festival underway now! All eyes on the skies this weekend! FOX 4’s Payton May is live…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2260,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[960,223,160,162,161,216,393],"class_list":{"0":"post-2259","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-plano","8":"tag-collin-county","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-plano","11":"tag-plano-headlines","12":"tag-plano-news","13":"tag-tx","14":"tag-us"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2259\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}