Raw States

National Balloon Classic

Indianola, IA · Festival

When

July 30 – August 7, 2027

Where

Memorial Balloon Field, 15335 Jewell St · Indianola · IA

Cost

Not confirmed

Status

Confirmed from the organizer's published schedule

Indianola's Memorial Balloon Field hosts one of the country's largest hot air balloon events, drawing nearly 100 balloons for nine days each summer. The National Balloon Classic has run since 1970 and includes evening balloon glows, competitive flights and a carnival midway.

The history within reach

• Fort Des Moines and the first Black officers11 mi

  The army trained 639 Black officers here in 1917, the first commissioned in any number, after a campaign by students and the NAACP.

• The Iowa caucuses15 mi

  A scheduling accident put Iowa first on the calendar, and a little-known Georgia governor's 1976 finish showed what that was worth.

• The Iowa State Capitol15 mi

  The only five-domed capitol in the country, the central one covered in 23-carat gold leaf thin enough that the whole job used a few pounds of gold.

• The Iowa State Fair15 mi

  A million people over eleven days, and the fair that gave the country the butter cow, a life-size sculpture in 600 pounds of butter, made every year since 1911 and kept at 40 degrees behind glass..

• Iowa State Fair16 mi

  Eleven-day agricultural fair dating to 1854; annual attendance exceeds one million..