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Alabama Jubilee Hot-Air Balloon Classic

Alabama Jubilee Hot-Air Balloon Classic
2901 Point Mallard Drive SouthEast
800-232-5449

The Alabama Jubilee Hot-Air Balloon Classic is the oldest hot-air balloon race in the mid-South, started in Decatur, Alabama in 1978.

The sport of Hot-Air Ballooning had come to Decatur only a few years prior due to the fact that the City of Decatur had decided to purchase a hot-air balloon but now needed pilots to fly it. So the salesman of the balloon had cut a deal that he would train three pilots to fly the city's new balloon.

A few years later the sport of ballooning had hit Decatur hard and there were several well known pilots living in the area. Craving competition and the festival atmosphere provided at other ballon rallies 17 balloonists from Alabama,Kentucky, Ohio, Georgia, Mississippi and Louisiana got together with a handful of other volunteers and started the Alabama Jubilee

The Jubilee also served as a showcase for the new Decatur balloon, one of the first to represent a city, and an event to kick off Alabama's tourism season. The Jubilee now draws about 60 pilots from 20 states for two days of competition during the annual Memorial Day holiday weekend.

The continued popularity of the Alabama Jubilee prompted the Alabama Legislature to designate the City of Decatur as the “Ballooning Capital of Alabama.” The Jubilee has been named a Top 20 Tourism Event in the Southeast for May by the Atlanta-based Southeast Tourism Society.

Alabama Jubilee Hot-Air Balloon Classic is not affiliated with AmericanTowns Media