One of New Jersey’s premiere entertainment events will be gearing up for a big weekend in July. The New Jersey Lottery Festival of Ballooning returns for its 40th year of fun and the skies will be filled with large bright hot air balloons.

The event takes place at the Solberg Airport in Readington, NJ starting Friday, July 28 through Sunday, July 30, 2023.

The New Jersey Lottery Festival of Ballooning is the largest hot air balloon and music festival in the country. I’ve been doing my radio show from there for over 20 years and enjoy seeing all the people enjoying all the amenities that the festival has to offer.

The traditional balloon ascension will take place Friday night at 6:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 6:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. weather permitting. That is a sight to see, those magnificent tethered balloons floating to the heavens just after sunrise and just before sundown. They even have balloon rides.

I’ll be broadcasting my Big Joe Henry Show Saturday, July 29 from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. and it’s always great to see so many stop by and say hi and play games with our New Jersey 101.5 prize team.

There’s a midway full of rides and games for the kids, plenty of food and drink booths peppered throughout the festival and large amounts of parking available. The entertainment is top notch including concerts this year by Lit and Everclear on Friday, July 28 at 7:30 p.m., KC & The Sunshine Band on Saturday, July 29 at 8 p.m. and Fitz and the Tantrums on Sunday, July 30 at 3 p.m. and a kids concert with Laurie Berkner Friday afternoon at 1:30 p.m.

This is one of New Jersey’ best and biggest summer events. Take the family and friends and definitely make a day of it. I’m letting you know now about this event so that you can plan ahead. They have tickets for all events available along with complete information including maps, directions and answers to frequently asked questions at balloonfestival.com. Hope to see you there.

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The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 weekend host Big Joe Henry. Any opinions expressed are Big Joe’s own.

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