Panguitch Valley Balloon Rally

Panguitch turns its high mountain valley over to hot-air balloons for a long weekend at the end of June, and the setting is what separates it from every other rally in the state. The town sits at around 6,600 feet with the Sevier River running through it, ringed by mountains — so the balloons rise into a valley rather than across open desert, which is why the photographs from this one look the way they do.

It is a little over two hours northeast of St. George by way of Cedar City, and it is usually paired with a Bryce Canyon trip rather than done as a day out.

On the dates: the rally is held on the last full weekend of June, Friday through Sunday, and has been for years. Panguitch City sets and announces the exact dates annually, so confirm them there before booking a room — the weekend shown on this page follows the established pattern rather than a published announcement.

What happens

Mass ascensions run each morning while the air is still cool and settled. In a valley this high, that window is narrow, so the launches are early and the flying is over before most of the town has had breakfast.

The balloon glow on Main Street is the Saturday-evening centerpiece: envelopes inflated and tethered, burners fired in sequence so the whole street lights up. It is the part that works even for people who have no interest in aviation.

There is a great deal more around it than balloons. The rally programs skydiving and parachute demonstrations, live music, food booths, a parade, and inflatables and crafts for children. A 5K runs on the Saturday morning from the high school track, with the balloons going up overhead as the race starts.

Watching it

Admission costs nothing. The launch field and Main Street are both open, and in a town this size you are never far from either.

Altitude is the thing to plan for. Panguitch is nearly 2,000 feet higher than Bryce Canyon City and well over a mile above St. George, so a late-June morning here is cold in a way the same date in the desert is not. Take a jacket you would consider excessive.

Flying is weather-dependent, as everywhere. Mountain valleys can produce a still dawn and an unflyable one on consecutive days.

Making a trip of it

Panguitch is the practical base for Bryce Canyon, twenty-odd minutes away, and this is one of the busiest weekends of its year — accommodation in town and along the Highway 12 corridor gets tight. Book before you commit to the drive.

Anyone who would rather be in the basket than under it will find the operators working nearer St. George covered in hot air balloon rides.