On Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026, hot air balloons crossed over London Bridge to open that year's Havasu Balloon Festival, as a Today's News-Herald photo caption recorded. That same morning, the paper's photo roundup reported dozens of balloons over Lake Havasu City and pilots taking off from different spots around town, including Lake Havasu High School.
The 16th annual Havasu Balloon Festival & Fair returns January 21 through 24, 2027. Its gate has a street address. Its balloons don't. If you live on the Peninsula, Lakeview and Country Club side of town, you're close to the gate at Windsor 4. Most of the sky show doesn't depend on that gate, though, so festival week plays out across your mornings and evenings whether or not you buy a ticket.
The launch field gets decided the morning of
The official festival site lists the fair's hours as noon Thursday through 3 p.m. Sunday. The ticketed grounds sit behind Gate 1 at 171 London Bridge Road, across from the swap meet parking lot. Rockabilly, the boat shows and the Bluegrass Festival use the same entrance.
Launch sites work differently. Go Lake Havasu's festival page puts it plainly:
"Ascension locations depend on wind direction and conditions; launch locations will not be known until the hour of ascension."
That same page lists possible ascension spots as Windsor 4, the Bridgewater Channel, parking and dirt lots around London Bridge and throughout the city, golf courses, and schools. Pilots check the weather very early each morning and decide whether to launch. Their call goes up on the Havasu Balloon Fest Facebook page. According to Go Lake Havasu, the balloons like to fly over the city, in and around the Bridgewater Channel and London Bridge. A balloon may touch the water lightly and climb right back up when no boats, paddlers or swimmers are in the way.
That's why the 2026 photos showed a launch at Lake Havasu High School, on the far side of town from Windsor Beach. The balloon field is the base, but the wind decides where balloons actually take off.
The 2027 schedule, day by day
The 2027 festival homepage lists these balloon times, all weather permitting:
- Thursday, Jan. 21: Gates open at noon. The carnival runs from 2 p.m. to close, tethered balloon rides run 3 to 5 p.m., and the "Glowin' on the River" Night Glow or Field of Fire starts at 6:30 p.m. on the balloon field.
- Friday, Jan. 22: The Sunrise Flag Ceremony is at 7:20 a.m., followed by a mass ascension at 7:45 a.m. Tethered rides run 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. There's an afternoon mass ascension at 4:15 p.m. and a night glow at 6:30 p.m.
- Saturday, Jan. 23: Same pattern as Friday: flag ceremony at 7:20 a.m., mass ascension at 7:45 a.m., tethered rides 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., afternoon ascension at 4:15 p.m., night glow at 6:30 p.m.
- Sunday, Jan. 24: Flag ceremony at 7:20 a.m., then the last mass ascension at 7:45 a.m. Tethered rides run 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., when the festival closes.
That's three mass ascensions in the morning and two in the afternoon. The site lists tethered rides at $20 for ages 12 and over, $10 for kids 6 to 11 and $5 for kids 5 and under. The morning ascensions start before most of the day's fair activity, and because launches can happen anywhere in town, the 7:45 a.m. window is the one most likely to put balloons over the neighborhoods.
The night glows are different. They're listed for the balloon field, so the evening program is the part tied most closely to Windsor 4.
Wind has the final say, as 2025 showed
The 2025 festival is a good example of how much the forecast matters. On opening Thursday, the News-Herald reported winds up to 25 miles per hour at Windsor Beach. That grounded pilots from both the planned flight and the evening glow, while live musicians and vendors kept the grounds running.
In a News-Herald wrap-up of a wind-hit festival, the paper reported that wind had canceled most flights. The night glow still happened, and some balloons flew Saturday morning. Festival director Steve Ticknor estimated attendance at around 20,000 over the four days, likely a little lower than the year before because of the weather.
Go Lake Havasu says morning or afternoon ascensions get canceled if the wind picks up, and cancellations aren't known until the hour of ascension because conditions change fast. The 2027 ticket page says the festival goes on rain or shine and tickets are non-refundable. On days when balloons can't fly, the live entertainment, carnival, vendor village and food stay open.
For anyone within a short drive of London Bridge Road, the Facebook post before sunrise is what tells you whether a 7:45 a.m. ascension is worth getting up for.
What the gate costs in 2027, and what's new
Because so much of the balloon program happens over town, the ticket mostly buys you the balloon field up close, the night glows, the fair, and a chance to talk with crews. Go Lake Havasu says balloon teams are on hand all weekend to talk about the art and history of ballooning. The biggest 2027 change is aimed at families. The 2027 ticket page announces that children 16 and under get in free with a paying adult.
| 2027 ticket | Price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| General Admission, ages 17+ | $20 | All four days, morning launches through the Night Glow |
| Gondola Club/VIP, Friday only | $65 | VIP parking, pavilion, breakfast and dinner, cash bar |
| Gondola Club/VIP, Saturday only | $65 | VIP parking, pavilion, breakfast and dinner, cash bar |
| Gondola Club/VIP, Sunday only | $25 | VIP parking and pavilion access |
| Gondola Club/VIP Weekend Pass, Fri–Sun | $120 | All three VIP days |
Since one $20 general admission covers all four days, two adults bringing kids 16 and under pay $40 for the whole festival. Carnival ride tickets are sold separately. The weekend VIP pass is a limited allotment, and in early November the ticket page listed 24 remaining. Go Lake Havasu also notes advance tickets at the admission trailer off London Bridge Road at Windsor IV.
London Bridge Road during festival week
Go Lake Havasu says there are no traffic restrictions for the event. Parking on the north side looks like this:
- Free street parking along London Bridge Road and in the London Bridge Plaza, except on Sunday during the swap meet, which runs on its usual Sunday morning schedule.
- No festival parking in the English Village or Havasu Landing Casino lots. Vehicles left overnight will be towed.
- VIP parking in the lot at the newly built launch ramp at the south end of the State Park.
- Tour buses only on the street behind the Bridgewater Motel.
If you're coming from elsewhere in town, the free express shuttle runs continuously to Gate 1 from three lots: Pima Wash Parking Lot at 2145 Mesquite Ave., across from Fresenius Kidney Care; Mohave Community College at 1977 W. Acoma Blvd.; and Lake Havasu High School at 2675 S. Palo Verde Blvd. Shuttles run noon to 10 p.m. Thursday, 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.
Boaters planning to launch that weekend have one option at the State Park. Lot 2, the main launch ramp and parking area, stays open for public launching and trailer parking. Lot 1, which is the PWC ramp, plus the overflow parking next to Lots 1 and 2 and the new ramp area next to Windsor 4, are reserved for festival parking and camping. Park rangers direct boaters, and Lot 2 is the only place to park a boat. RVs and campers enter through Gate 2, near the volunteer tent and VIP parking.
Who's behind the gate
The festival is entirely volunteer-run. According to the 2027 ticket page, more than $2.4 million has gone back to charities and organizations in Lake Havasu so far. Go Lake Havasu lists the co-sponsors as the Lake Havasu Kiwanis Club, the London Bridge Rotary Club, the Lake Havasu Rotary Club, the Sunrise Rotary Club and the Daybreakers Lions Clubs, with more than 1,200 volunteers working the event. In that same wrap-up, Ticknor told the News-Herald that the board usually knows by mid-February where the finances stand and meets in early March to decide how much it can give. Questions go to the Havasu Balloon Festival and Fair Store at 928.505.2440, open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, or by email to [email protected].
Balloon week is one of the times a home's distance to Windsor 4 and the Bridgewater Channel really matters. If you're weighing how that location shows up in your home's value, or you'd like to find a place near the London Bridge Road corridor before next January, REALTOR® DJ of Keller Williams can walk you through it. Schedule a free consultation.
