Hot air balloon festival sneak peek: Make plans now for the free fest in Decatur May 23-24 [PHOTOS]

Friday afternoon, May 8, we got a colorful preview of the 49th Annual Alabama Jubilee Hot Air Balloon Classic set for this Memorial Day weekend.

The event typically features more than 60 hot air balloons from over 20 states at Point Mallard Park in Decatur, designated the “Ballooning Capital of Alabama” by the state.

For the Friday preview, five crews showed up, rolled out their balloons and waited for the wind to cooperate before attempting to stand up their balloons. While May is always a tricky time for our weather to cooperate, we learned last year that the uncertainty of it all is part of the tradition.

Read more below about this year’s festival, and make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to get news like this delivered to your inbox.

What’s new for the 2026 hot air balloon festival in Decatur

We caught up with Jubilee committee member Emily MacDonald, who shared a few new aspects to this year’s festival while emphasizing longtime favorites.

New features include:
🐾 Animal adoption event
♟️ Chess club demonstration
🎤 Meet + greet with James Spann
🚒 Expanded touch-a-truck event
🎇 Bigger-than-ever fireworks Sunday night

“We also have all the classic things we have done for 49 years now. We have a hound-and-hare race, where one balloon takes off, and everyone tries to find where they go and throw the target closest.

Then we have a fun flight Saturday afternoon, followed by the Balloon Glow, which is always an amazing time seeing the little kids’ faces light up. It’s just such an awesome time.”
_{Emily MacDonald, Alabama Jubilee Hot Air Balloon Classic committee member}