HELEN — The 53rd Annual Helen to the Atlantic Balloon Race & Festival is kicking off this week. The South’s oldest balloon event and the United States’ only long-distance hot air balloon race will begin with a mass ascension of around 25 hot air balloons. Race competitors and local flyers will take to the sky at 7 a.m. Thursday.
The race begins in Helen and the finish line is I-95 (anywhere between Maine and Miami). The winner is the first person to cross I-95 or whoever is ahead at sunset on Friday, June 5.
Other balloonists will compete in local events beginning Thursday evening around 6 p.m., and at 7:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
The Balloon Festival is being held through Saturday. The Biker Nation Reunion Rally will also be held this weekend at Riverside Park.
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