named programs · 3 · from sources
What they call their work
Community Vendor Program
Provides food vending opportunities for local nonprofits and partners with the Zonta Club to host a craft fair during the festival.
Hot Air Balloon Launches
Organizes morning and evening hot air balloon launches during the festival weekend, weather permitting, featuring up to 100 balloons.
Moonglow Event
Hosts a stationary, musically synchronized balloon illumination display at night, where select balloons are inflated and lit but do not fly.
activities · 3 groups
What they do
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Community Festival & Event Production 1 activity
- Organizes and operates an annual hot air balloon festivalHosts a large-scale, volunteer-run hot air balloon festival each September, attracting over 175,000 attendees annually. The event includes up to 100 hot air balloons and spans multiple days, requiring extensive planning including traffic management and public safety coordination.
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Community Event Fundraising 1 activity
- Supports local nonprofits through food vendor opportunitiesProvides food vending spaces at the festival with priority given to local not-for-profit organizations, promoting community reinvestment. These opportunities have enabled local nonprofits to collectively raise over $900,000 for their missions.
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Uncategorized 3 activities
- Facilitates hot air balloon ride opportunities through pilot listingsMaintains and publishes a list of registered hot air balloons and participating pilots for the festival, enabling the public to directly contact and book rides. This service supports public engagement with certified pilots during the event.
- Maintains historical and promotional festival contentProvides a public gallery of images from past Adirondack Balloon Festivals and maintains historical records of participation, including pilot and balloon lists for upcoming events.
- Provides free public access to festival eventsOffers free admission and free general parking to the Adirondack Balloon Festival, ensuring broad community access. Also hosts special events such as a musically synchronized "moonglow" balloon illumination at the airport.
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financials · form 990 · fy2024
revenue
Total revenue$260K
Contributions & grants$67K26%
Program service revenue$164K63%
Investment income$00%
Other revenue$29K
expenses
Total expenses$258K
Program expenses89%
Admin / overhead11%
Fundraising0%
Salaries & benefits$0
Grants paid out$0
Largest expense lineFacilities
balance sheet
Total assets$112K
Cash$112K
Investments$0
Liabilities$0
Net assets$112K
Liquid reserves5.2 mo
4 years on record · 2020–2024 · YoY revenue -7.6%
leadership · form 990 part vii · fy2024
Who runs it
board members · 5
- ERIN COKER — DIRECTOR
- HOLLY DURIVAGE — DIRECTOR
- MARK DONAHUE — BOARD CHAIR
- STEVE SELLINGHAM — DIRECTOR
- WAYNE SICKLER — DIRECTOR
relationships · 9
Who they work with
- Facebook Network — Uses Facebook to announce vendor application availability and other festival updates.
- Facebook Partner — Uses Facebook as a platform for sharing news and special announcements about the event.
- New York State Department of Health Partner — Collaborated with the festival to resume operations in 2021 during the post-pandemic recovery period.
- Saga, Japan Partner — Established a sister cities relationship centered on cultural, educational, political, and ballooning exchanges.
- Town of Queensbury Government — Provides occupancy tax funding and is a major beneficiary of the festival's regional economic impact.
- Warren County Government — Handles sale of VIP parking passes and charter bus passes for the festival.
- Warren County Government — Provides occupancy tax funding and is a major beneficiary of the festival's regional economic impact.
- Warren County Public Health Department Partner — Collaborated with the festival to resume operations in 2021 during the post-pandemic recovery period.
- Zonta Club Partner — Organizes and sponsors the craft fair at the Adirondack Balloon Festival.
strategies · 3
How they approach the work
Named approaches extracted from this org’s sources. Where others share an approach, follow it to see the full set of orgs running it.
- Community Reinvestment via Local Nonprofit Vendor Partnershipsmethodology: community_reinvestment_through_local_partnershipsBy prioritizing local not-for-profit organizations as food vendors, the festival channels revenue back into the community, because this model transforms event spending into sustainable local fundraising and strengthens civic networks.
- Experiential Education Through Special Eventsmethodology: experiential_education_through_special_eventsBy using hot air ballooning as a visually engaging and immersive experience, the festival provides educational enjoyment and fosters community interest in aviation and local culture, because experiential learning increases public engagement and retention more than passive formats.
- Volunteer-Powered Long-Term Planningmethodology: volunteer-led long-term planningBy relying on sustained, volunteer-led planning cycles that begin years in advance, the festival ensures operational continuity and community ownership, because long-term collective stewardship builds institutional resilience and reduces dependency on external management.