High in the Texas Sky

Your guide to the big balloon festival that lights up Plano in September

The balloons launch two times during the festival.

Photo courtesy of Visit Plano

For the past 42 years, thousands of spectators have been turning up to The H-E-B Central Market Plano Balloon Festival to watch hot-air balloons soar through the sky, while also enjoying live music and entertainment, kids' activities, and tons of food and drink.

If attending this four-day festival, held this year from September 21-24 at Oak Point Park/Red Rail Pavilion in Plano, is on your must-do list, here's everything you need to know before you go.

The basics
The festival launches its balloons two times over the weekend, weather permitting. The larger-than-life creations go up on Saturday and Sunday at 7 am.

Start the day watching the balloons get inflated or wind down with the Balloon Glow, when the balloons are lit from within against the evening sky.

Tickets
General admission tickets are $10, senior age 65 and older and kids 3-12 years old are $5, and tots 36 inches and smaller are free.

The festival is going cashless this year, and the admission gate, parking, and Kids Fun Zone ticket booth will only accept debit, credit, and Apply Pay.

Parking
Prime parking (at three nearby locations) is $15, and off-site parking at the Plano Event Center is $10. If you don't want to stress about driving, it's a wise idea to carpool, ride-share, or take the DART.

Where to stay
There are several nearby hotels, some which might even be offering festival packages and specials. Head here to see all your options.

What to eat
There will be more than a wide variety of food and beverage vendors on-site offering uplifting menu items like fresh-squeezed lemonade, funnel cakes, turkey legs, kettle corn, burgers, smoothies, gelato, and more. You can even purchase beer, hard seltzer, and wine spritzers this year.

Venture outside the park, and you can sample Plano's ever-growing culinary scene. From downtown to the Shops at Legacy, the Shops at Willow Bend to Legacy West, you'll find hundreds of tasty options for every palate.

For the kids
The Kids Fun Zone will have obstacle courses, huge slides, a pirate ship to scale, and the "berry-go-round" to ride, along with a crafts area, face painting, and the Plano Symphony Orchestra Instrument Area.

There's even a toddler zone designed with the littles in mind. Rides vary in price from $2.50-$5, and all-day wristbands are available for $20.

How to ride
Fancy going up in the air yourself? Book a tethered balloon ride and hover 20-30 feet above the ground for several minutes.

Approximately 10-12 people can go up at one time (depending on weight and at the pilot's discretion) and tickets are available onsite in cash only. Adults cost $30 per ride, kids 6-12 only $20. No one under the age of six is allowed to ride.

What else to do
Of course the balloons are the main attraction, but there's a lot on the docket besides watching this kaleidoscope of color soar through the sky.

The RE/MAX of Texas parachute team will land right in the middle of the launch field on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 6 pm, followed by a spectacular fireworks show those evenings. Live music and local performances will take place all weekend.

Click here to plan your trip.

festivals promoted

Movie Review

Shaun the Sheep gets PG-spooky in new movie for the Halloween season

Photo courtesy of Aardman / Sky UK LTD / StudioCanal 2026

Shaun the Sheep in Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom.

Since his introduction over 30 years ago, the Aardman Animations character Shaun the Sheep has been almost as popular as the studio’s flagship characters, Wallace and Gromit. There is never a shortage of trouble Shaun can get into as he leads his flock and proves to be a thorn in the side of his farmer and Bitzer, the farmer’s loyal sheepdog.

His antics lead everyone down some slightly spooky roads in the new film, Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom. At first, things are only slightly awry as Shaun and the flock are growing a secret pumpkin patch to have their own jack-o-lanterns. But when the farmer accidentally destroys the pumpkin patch, Shaun tries to regrow it quickly with a Frankenstein-esque experiment.

However, disaster looms when Shaun uses an old bottle of Hair-Gro as the container for the serum he creates. Naturally, the balding farmer uses it on his head, and everyone soon discovers how truly successful it is, with pumpkins growing out of control and the farmer sprouting hair all over his body. Through a series of mishaps, the farmer becomes the titular beast, creating mayhem while Shaun and others try to stop him.

Directed by Steve Cox and Matthew Walker, and written by Mark Burton and Giles Pilbrow, the film goes down just as easy as every other Aardman project has. They get the Halloween vibes started from the opening credits, with things like the sheep doing the “Thriller” dance, and continue the fun throughout, referencing everything from Psycho to Friday the 13th in a nice, PG way.

With no script — every character is mute save for reaction noises — the movie relies on sight gags for its humor, and the Aardman team is endlessly inventive in that respect. Sometimes it’s small things like a sheep using toilet paper rolls as binoculars, and sometimes it’s something like forcing the Bigfoot-like farmer to be shaped into a rectangle as he escapes through a window. But there’s a never-ending stream of such moments, so even if one doesn’t tickle your funny bone, chances are the next one will.

The biggest benefit of the characters not talking is that there’s no need for deep character development. The filmmakers do a great job of giving the basic traits of each character, and then use those attributes to color everyone’s actions for the rest of the film. Shaun is the troublemaker, the farmer is a bumbling fool, Bitzer is preternaturally smart, and the town’s vet is empathetic, and the combination of those characters and others makes for a highly entertaining blend.

Like all Aardman creations, Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is a fun lark that doesn’t make its audience think too hard. With just enough references to keep viewers engaged but not so many as to be overbearing, the film puts its well-worn characters to good use once again, delivering a Halloween season story that can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

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Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is now playing in theaters.

movies film

High in the Texas Sky

Your guide to the big balloon festival that lights up Plano in September

Movie Review

Shaun the Sheep gets PG-spooky in new movie for the Halloween season

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