The Alabama Jubilee Hot Air Balloon Classic is held annually on Memorial Day weekend in

Decatur, Alabama Decatur () is the largest city and county seat of Morgan County, Alabama, Morgan County (with a portion also in Limestone County, Alabama, Limestone County) in the U.S. state of Alabama. Nicknamed "The River City," it is located in North Alabam ...

. Each year the Jubilee hosts about 60 local and national hot-air balloons at

Point Mallard Park Point Mallard Park is a park located in Decatur, Alabama, Decatur, Alabama, United States that sits on of the Flint Creek (Alabama), Flint Creek shoreline. Flint Creek is a tributary of the nearby Tennessee River. The park, portions of which are ...

. Public admission is free of charge, and several activities take place during the weekend. Below a partial listing of events that are part of each year's Jubilee: * Fireworks Extravaganza * Antique Tractor Show * Classic Car Show * Arts and Crafts * Live Stage Entertainment * Children's Area * Food and Merchandise Vendors The Alabama Jubilee is unique in that it allows for the crowd of around 50,000 to mingle with pilots and crews, while 7-story tall balloons inflate and float overhead. The Alabama Jubilee Hot Air Balloon Classic consists of three different balloon events: * A Hare & Hound Race * A Balloon Glow * A Circumnavigational Task * Tethered Balloon Rides

History

The Alabama Jubilee Hot Air Balloon Classic, one of the oldest hot-air balloon races in the mid-South, started in Decatur in 1978 with competition among 17 balloonists from

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

and

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

. It was a showcase for the new Decatur balloon, one of the first to represent a city, and an event to kick off Alabama's tourism season. The Jubilee now draws, on average, about 60 pilots from some 20 states for two days of friendly competition during the annual

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. It i ...

holiday weekend. The 2020 event went virtual, due to public gathering restrictions in Alabama caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

"The Ballooning Capital of Alabama"

The continued popularity of the Alabama Jubilee prompted the Alabama Legislature to designate the City of Decatur as the “Ballooning Capital of

.” The Jubilee has been named a Top 20 Tourism Event in the

Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, ...

for May by the

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

-based

Southeast Tourism Society STS logo 2015.jpg "The Southeast Tourism Society" (STS), is a non-profit membership organization promoting tourism within the 13 Southeastern member states and the District of Columbia by sharing resources, fostering cooperation, networking, provi ...

Location

The Alabama Jubilee is held on the grounds of

, a municipal recreation complex that offers a water park featuring an aquatic center with a wave pool,

Olympic-sized swimming pool An Olympic-size swimming pool is a swimming pool which conforms to the regulations for length, breadth, and depth made by World Aquatics (formerly FINA) for swimming at the Summer Olympics and the swimming events at the World Aquatics Championsh ...

lazy river "(Up A) Lazy River" is a popular tune and song by Hoagy Carmichael and Sidney Arodin, published in 1930. The melody is by Arodin, arranged and with words modified by Carmichael. It is considered a jazz standard and pop standard, and has ...

, and several

water slide A water slide (also referred to as a flume, water chute, or hydroslide) is a type of Playground slide, slide designed for warm-weather or indoor recreational use at swimming pools or water parks. Water slides differ in their riding method and ...

s, as well as tennis courts, ball fields, hiking trails, campground, 18-hole championship golf course, indoor ice skating rink and recreation center.

External links

Alabama Jubilee main website

Sources

Hot air balloon festivals in the United States Decatur metropolitan area, Alabama Decatur, Alabama Festivals in Alabama Huntsville-Decatur, AL Combined Statistical Area Tourist attractions in Morgan County, Alabama 1978 establishments in Alabama {{Alabama-stub

History

"The Ballooning Capital of Alabama"

Location

See also

External links

Sources