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Sponsor spoiler, with a new and updated addition: This Year’s Hudson Hot Air Affair has ballooned into new festivities tied to the St. Croix and S’Mores, and then the Super Bowl and more, with River Falls now seeing some of the action, that takes place up and down the river valley. So bask in this ballooning grab-bag.

The theme this season is S’Mores and More, Balloon Galore, at the Hot Air Affair, which is taking more and more of a regional presence, not only Hudson, but other cities, villages and towns in its Friday and Saturday and Sunday activities.
(Update: Late Friday night the flags that were frozen in place, so not effected by wind that would play into the picture until the morning came, spoke a tale of what would happen the next sunrise, as balloons only go up when their speed is less than 10 mph. Then come 2:40 p.m. Saturday, the next shot for a launch, and the big flags were horizontal as they wafted very strongly in the wind, much like the balloon-rising schedules that are at the mercy of the breeze, but not the cold of the night before. So your best bet for using that promo guide that’s described below, might be Sunday morning at 7 a.m. Meanwhile, places like Ziggy’s and the next-door northward Hop & Barrel have been overflowing with patrons even at the far tables that are seldom full.)
Balloons from a handful of main event sponsors include a Duluth candy company and a River Falls grocer in their scope, and other venues could be taken into the mix, if the winds are southernly, as we then include the Nutty Squirrel bar and grill as not only a ballooning host, but a party destination. If your winds head east, this list could conceivingly include a partnering Hammond venue, Cheap Andy’s. A state tourism rep is expected to carry on an attendance precedent begun by then-Gov. Tommy Thompson, by being in both Hudson and River Falls over the weekend, and maybe also hitting New Richmond, to mingle with the sponsors and such who make it run.
Aside from the four commercial balloon sponsors there are these who are both a local balloon and event sponsor: The Valley Companies, Viking Electronics and Family Fresh Market-River Falls, (and also New Richmond). There are dozens of other businesses who are either in one camp or the other. The latter two companies are teaming with Spring Creek Dental to put out a Balloon Education program on Friday, using what else as a reference, the Cloud Dancer that is a product of both Family Fresh and a pilot from Joliet, the only such one from an Illinois origin. “Learn how the beautiful hot air balloons fly in the Hot Air Affair printable educational booklet.” That can be a ready reference when more than 30 are scheduled to go up over three times over the weekend in this, the largest winter ballooning event in the country. This educational offering goes on most of the day.
Most of the ballooning and related events, such as morning launches, are held at Rock School in the heart of Old Hudson just north of The Hill district, and information especially can be gathered at merchant sponsors.

(Another weekend first — aside from those new events listed in the next paragraph — is also being unveiled through the Family Fresh new assortment of AngusPride choice beef cuts, USDA choice that starts with fresh and all-natural and boneless beef whole New York strip loin for under $7 a pound. Could treat that balloon pilot you met either on the launching field or landing field or then after-hour-party and invited over, which then spills into NFL Pro Bowl Sunday and gives something robust to that defenseless game, or use to it to spearhead your next hostess weekend of Super Bowl party, and morph into the Monday of Valentine’s Day).

So the Hot Air Affair is where the whole flurry of activities start, as also recent to the Hot Air Affair are chilling out in the ultimate way concerning temps. There is the St. Croix River Dunk, sponsored by longtime stalwart Hudson Rotary Club, ice carving in a nod to the Winter Carnival held across the river, final tastings for the S’More Wars Recipe Contest that’s sponsored by Grand Fete, and animals and big birds of the St. Croix, courtesy of Angel’s Pet World. There is a beanbag tournament at Hop & Barrell, as well. Virtually all this is going on mid-day on Saturday.
Zappa Bros. are being honored as a charter balloon sponsor, but alas Frank will not be one of them. The closest thing as far as live music involving an official sponsor — for various reasons relating to the virus and its variants and resulting vile behavior seen here at times — were local heroes Boondoggle at The Taste Of Hudson S’Mores and More, Balloons Galore, last Saturday at Camp St. Croix. The usual downtown Hudson rock and pop music shows will still go on this weekend, but elsewhere from the HHAA and in a non-official capacity, with Ziggy’s and Dick’s leading that list by having a sponsorship role, since they offer more than just bar fare, but not being listed on the Hot Air Affair calendar itself. The means the status of live music, at least as officially notated, will be absent from the festival for the second straight year, for the first such exclusions in more than a decade. But there are a boatload — balloonload? — of other festive activities, which is why this post is on this particular website.
For exact times and dates, and the possibly unfolding weather-reated changes, go to HudsonHot AirAffair.com.

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