At the Clovis Rodeo Grounds, hot air balloons were filled and flown in front of a live media audience, allowing the opportunity to open up the ClovisFest festivities. The hot air balloons are a part of the Hot Air Balloon “Fun Fly” portion of ClovisFest.
Greg Newman, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce for Clovis said that the Chamber was “…proud to host ClovisFest for the 47th year.”
“There’s a lot of components to it like the Hot Air Balloon Fun Fly that we’re talking about today,” Newman went on, “Then on the streets of Old Town on Saturday and Sunday we’ll have the International Village with cultural dancers and entertainment.”
In addition to live bands he mentioned the “Made in Clovis” section of ClovisFest that is going into its second year. “[The City of Clovis] approached us and they noticed, especially right after Covid or during Covid, that there were a lot more business licenses being applied for from home businesses.”
Newman went on to illustrate that upon looking into the matter further, the Chamber of Commerce noticed upon people in the community, “a change in job, or a change in maybe philosophy of what they wanted out of life and they took that as a time to invent something or create something.” Made in Clovis is an entire block dedicated to business owners attempting to advertise their ideas for businesses.
Keri Bennitt, Chief Marketing Officer at Noble Credit Union, realized that the “most precious” aspect of the Fun Fly brings together the “sense of community”. Noble Credit Union sponsors the Fun Fly portion of ClovisFest.
“No matter where you live, what area you’re from, what your background is, everybody comes together and watches the beauty of the whole process of the balloons unfolding, blowing up and lifting off, and it’s that special moment that everybody shares together.”
As Bennitt reminded, at no cost to the community, the Hot Air Balloon Fun Fly is a perfect opportunity for families and spectators to come out and participate in something that she calls “unique” and a “special moment”.
To see the Hot Air Balloon Fun Fly, balloons will be filled at the Clovis Rodeo Grounds early in the morning and will be held both days of Clovis Fest September 24th and 25th for tethered rides at $10-15 a ride.