16 photos of the hot air balloons in the Alberta sky

The Heritage Inn International Balloon Festival 2015 returned to High River to play host to 27 international hot air balloons from Canada, Belgium, the U.K. and U.S.A.

The balloon pilots were competing for the Canadian National Championship by flying from one location to another, with the winner qualifying to fly at the Worlds in Saga, Japan in the fall of 2016.

The winner of this years Canadian National Championship was Dale Ritchie, in second place was Jason Adams and placing in third was Brant Leatherdale.

2015 Balloon Festival Photos

Up, up, and away! 🎈 #hotairballoons #highriver @dendara

A post shared by Sarah Doty (@dotysarah) on Sep 27, 2015 at 3:41pm PDT

A post shared by Jordan Schraa (@jordanschraa.jpeg) on Sep 28, 2015 at 10:40am PDT

#hotairballoon #coolstuff #highriver #balloonfest #neatstuff #alberta

A post shared by Garrick Deon (@garrickcdee) on Sep 26, 2015 at 8:02pm PDT

Took a weekend off from cute clothes to hang out with some of these beauties! 27 competition and fiesta balloons at the Canadian National Championship!

A post shared by Emma (@whatemmawore) on Sep 28, 2015 at 9:25am PDT

Up, up, and away… #balloon #festival #HighRiver Link to more photographs in bio

A post shared by Ruth Daly (@ruthhdaly) on Sep 28, 2015 at 7:22am PDT

#HighRiver #balloons #festival #colours

A post shared by Ruth Daly (@ruthhdaly) on Sep 27, 2015 at 7:31pm PDT

http://instagram.com/p/8J0b91og13/?tagged=highriver

Start of #fall celebrations in #highriver #ab #explorecanada #tourcanada #balloons #festival #autumn #alberta #iphoneonly

A post shared by Gerardo M. (@octolite) on Sep 27, 2015 at 1:03pm PDT

Hot air balloons were out this morning!! #highriver #airballons #sky #blue #morning #gorgeous #fun #yyc

A post shared by Kendra Ayrey (@kendra.ay) on Sep 27, 2015 at 10:55am PDT

#hotairballoon #hotairballoonfestival #upupandaway #highriver #capturecalgary #captureyyc #yycnow #yycliving #travelalberta #yyc #hiibf2016

A post shared by Liza Rooprai YYC (@lroops) on Sep 27, 2015 at 8:37am PDT

Up, up, and away. #hotairballoon #hotairballoonfestival #highriver #sky #yyc #upupandaway #capturecalgary #captureyyc #yycnow #yycliving #explorealberta #hiibf2016 #lroopstravels #lroops

A post shared by Liza Rooprai YYC (@lroops) on Sep 27, 2015 at 7:56am PDT

Did you hear? balloon prices are going up. It's due to inflation 🎈🎈🎈 One more from the balloon fest last night! #captureyyc #capturecalgary #heritageinninternationalballoonfestival #highriver #yycliving #travelalberta #teamcanon #imagesofcanada #explorecanada #tourcanada #exploretocreate #vsco #vscocam #vscofilm #vscogood_ #artofvisuals #agameoftones #livefolk #liveauthentic #folkmagazine #heatercentral #way2ill #yngkillers #meistershots #visualarchitects #justgoshoot #greatnorthcollective #balloon #tv_fisheye

A post shared by Chris McDowell (@christophermcd) on Sep 26, 2015 at 2:47pm PDT

http://instagram.com/p/8Gph_3uT2W/?tagged=highriver

I tried to do a long exposure of the balloons last night, but for some reason it didn't occur to me that they would be swaying with the wind…oh well, it still made for an interesting shot! #captureyyc #capturecalgary #yycliving #403photogang #travelalberta #highriver #vsco #vscocam #vscofilm #livefolk #liveauthentic #meistershots #nightshooters #nightimages #agameoftones #artofvisuals #heatercentral #meistershots #ig_masterpiece #exploretocreate #way2ill #yngkillers #moodygrams #folkmagazine #folkgood #visualarchitects #tv_fisheye #balloon #heritageinninternationalballoonfestival #calgaryisbeautiful

A post shared by Chris McDowell (@christophermcd) on Sep 26, 2015 at 8:54am PDT

Time for #nightglow in #highriver

A post shared by Michael Rounding (@michaelrounding) on Sep 25, 2015 at 7:05pm PDT

http://instagram.com/p/8JsvjwOZ8j/?tagged=calgarybuzz