Cathedral City’s Hot Air Balloon Festival returns with food, music and rides

Agua Caliente Casinos is kicking off the annual Hot Air Balloon Festival with food, live music and more. The celebration will take place Friday, Nov. 18-Sunday, Nov. 20.

Tickets for hot air balloon rides are $210, and passengers planning to ride should arrive at 6 a.m. to prepare for departure. The Friday and Sunday flight will take off from Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa Rancho Mirage at 6:30 a.m. The Saturday flight will leave from The Westin Rancho Mirage Golf Resort & Spa at 6:30 a.m. Spectators are welcome to watch the balloons depart from each venue’s lawn for free.

Three-day VIP admission for the festival’s live music and food truck event at the Cathedral City Community Amphitheater is $100. It includes access to all of the festival for the weekend. Guests can also purchase select individual tickets for each event starting at $10. Tickets for the festival and its select events can be purchased at eventbrite.com.

Friday’s festival runs from 4-9 p.m. and will host food trucks, beer and wine gardens, tethered balloon rides from 5-8 p.m. and live music with Pink Floyd tribute band Continuous Signal. On Saturday, the festival’s food offerings run from 11 a.m.-8:30 p.m. and will also have a beer and wine garden available. Saturday’s schedule also includes a car show, live music from The Dreamboats, and a glowing balloon show in the evening.

The tethered balloon rides on Saturday will be available at the Westin Rancho Mirage Golf Resort & Spa from 7- 9 a.m. and at the Cathedral City Community Amphitheater lawn from 9- 11 a.m. On Sunday, Big League Little Dreams Cathedral City will host a pancake breakfast and tethered balloon rides from 7-10 a.m. Tethered balloon rides for adults are $25 and $20 for children and passes will be sold at each venue.

Agua Caliente Casinos has three properties in total: Agua Caliente Casino Cathedral City, Agua Caliente Casino Spa Rancho Mirage and Agua Caliente in Palm Springs. The Palm Springs location is currently running a dinner and entertainment package until the end of the year.

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