An easy 2.5 hour drive from Guadalajara, the ITTO graduating class of Nov 2015 decided to check out the International Balloon Festival held in Leon every November. There are worst ways to spend a weekend than in a park enjoying hot air balloons play in the wind. If you ever make your way to this event, do yourself a favor and camp at the park. There's an ample supply of hammocks for sale for you to enjoy throughout your visit.
A panoramic of the lake that takes up most of the park. We entered on the far side of the lake to where the balloons a blown up and land.
Picnic spots for friends and family to gather. One must get here early to get a spot, as we saw none available on our walk around the lake.
Be a happy bear, keep hydrated!
Also, not a sticker tag, the bear just seems to be the mascot for water fountains here.
Funny face billboards dotted the path around the lake.
An homage 'To The Athlete'. Honoring everyone who chooses to make fitness a part of their lives.
Make a Hot Air Balloon! Fun for the whole family.
Kite flying is a popular activity during the day on the Parque Metropolitano grounds, but be careful with your string or you're gonna have to be spending an hour untangling knots.
The evening festivities begin as the sun begins to set. A basket truck starts preparing the first balloon inflation.
Personal hot air balloon playing in the sky with a kite.
Kids and movie characters were roaming the grounds for pictures all afternoon. Muscle Princess greets her fans. (We actually have no idea who this character was supposed to be, but considering her arms, Muscles seemed appropriate.)
Balloon truck showing off it's flame.
This truck came out just before sunset and started playing with its flame right away. You can see the basket under the giant fireball, to which a balloon would be attached, though not for a good 30 minutes. More trucks came a few minutes after this one, also showing off their flames, but the teams seemed to be waiting for full dark before starting any inflation. For a good while, we thought the flames were the show.
Classmates in front of the official Hot Air Balloon.
Well done, photobomber.
