One Of My Favorite Winter Festivals Takes Off This February In Western Wisconsin

If you're looking for a unique winter festival to check out, I can't recommend this one enough!

Thanks to a good friend of mine last year offering the recommendation, I got the chance to see this fun small-town Wisconsin event that offers beautiful visuals and a lot of fun perfect for a family night out or a date night with a special someone.

Have you heard about the Hudson Hot Air Affair?

Every winter, the small town of Hudson, Wisconsin plays host to a fun hot air balloon event called the Hudson Hot Air Affair.

Just across the Minnesota border over the St. Croix River from the Twin Cities, it's a quick trip for those who live in the metro. Even for people who live in places like St. Cloud, Duluth, or Rochester, it's within a few-hour drive that's well worth a weekend road trip to check out!

The festival is a three-day weekend event held each year in February, with the 2025 event scheduled for February 7, 8, and 9.

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The event has been going on since 1990, and features dozens of hot air balloons each year from all over the country.

This year's event has been moved from its previous location at E.P. Rock Elementary School in Hudson to a new location for 2025. The new location is Rivercrest Elementary, on the southern edge of Hudson.

What is there to see and do at the Hudson Hot Air Affair?

The event includes things like a craft fair, games, music, and other family fun, but the centerpiece of the event is absolutely the hot air balloons!

Every year, there are daily scheduled flights, where the participating hot air balloons and their pilots will take off from the festival location, making for a beautiful scene of hot air balloons taking flight and soaring over the Hudson area.

Scheduled flight times for this year include two times - 7:35 am on both Saturday, February 8, and Sunday, February 9. There is an additional optional flight scheduled for 3 pm on Saturday if they don't fly on Saturday morning due to weather conditions.

It is worth noting that flights can only take place if the weather is cooperative. Wind conditions need to be light (less than 8-10 mph) on the ground and also not too fast higher in the sky. Visibility and other factors also play a role of whether or not they can take flight at any given scheduled takeoff time. Organizers do update the public via their website.

Even if they don't fly, it is still worth visiting the festival! Their nighttime activities are absolutely stunning, which is what you're seeing photos of in this article. They call their nighttime event the "Moon Glow" or "Field of Fire".

The Moon Glow is when weather conditions are calm enough to allow the hot air balloon operators to inflate the balloons. They don't take off, but the spectacle of the glowing balloons at night is really awesome!

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The "Field of Fire" is held on nights when wind conditions don't allow for the Moon Glow. What they do for these is set up the baskets and burners for the balloons, but not the balloons themselves.

How much does it cost? What else do I need to know?

You might wonder if you can get a hot air balloon ride. Unfortunately, they do not offer rides to the public. The event is more about the visual spectacle of all of the hot air balloons. I promise, it is still well worth seeing!

The event is free to attend, so you can just show up and enjoy seeing the hot air balloons. Some of the related side events may have some costs.

There is some parking available on-location, but I'd suggest looking into the shuttle options that organizers and their partners offer. You can learn more about them here.