The Plano Balloon Festival | Saturday September 17, 2011

I’ve been a Plano City resident for seven years and I can’t remember a year where I haven’t attended the famous Plano Balloon Festival in some way, shape, or form. Since 2005, I’ve been honored to emcee the Fox 4 Community Stage at the festival and even though I’m a full-time student at the University of Texas at Austin, this year was no exception. 

On Friday afternoon once classes were over, I packed my bags, jumped in the car with my crown and sash in tow, and headed to home to Plano. It wasn’t until I got closer to Dallas that rain started hitting my windshield. “Oh no! Now the balloons can’t launch,” I thought to myself. 

But Mother Nature was kind Saturday Morning when I donned a sundress and burnt orange wedges as I introduced the festival’s most popular acts: iNStep and HipHop Nation. Both of these acts return to the festival to perform year after year and I must say, they are extremely talented! 

-A six-year-old dancer from HipHop Nation-

I always love emceeing at the Plano Balloon Festival because there is such a sense of community at the event. Everyone’s always smiling and happy to be out enjoying the weather and hoping to catch the balloons when they take off. 

Of course, none of this would be possible if it wasn’t for Amanda Jenkins, the community stage coordinator. She brought me in back in 2005 and has welcomed me back year after year with open arms.