Joel Berka

Joel Berka has been around hot air balloons his entire life and is a second generation balloon pilot.

He is a FAA certified commercial Balloon pilot and instructor. He has flown balloons of many different sizes and shapes including a giant Pig balloon named "Spyder Pig" and "Dingbat" a special shape balloon that encourages kids to "stay in school". 

Joel attends many balloon festivals each year. He has flown in the United States, Canada, Mexico and New Zealand.   A few of his favorite flights are flying in the red rock canyons in Gallup N.M. and flying among 500+ balloons in Albuquerque N.M.

The sport of ballooning has provided Joel with the opportunity to meet countless wonderful people and enjoy many unforgettable experiences. 

Charles Blair 

Charles has had this marvelous sport of ballooning in his close-knit family for over 35 years! Almost every weekend is a family get-together. So for him, ballooning is not just about going up and down, but rather a fancy way of creating a recurring family reunion. For this, he will be forever grateful!

Jay McCormack

Jay McCormack has been flying hot air balloons for over nine years during which he flew in the Philippines, New Zealand, Japan, India, Thailand, Mexico and many US states. Jay is also a Fixed-wing Flight Instructor with an instrument and commercial certificate including single-engine land and sea, as well as possessing tailwheel, complex, and high performance endorsements. He is also working on his commercial helicopter add on. When he’s not pursuing his passion in the air, Jay can be found mountain biking, snowboarding and exploring in the wilderness.

Mike Ranieri

Mike is a commercial hot-air balloon pilot and also holds a FAA Repairman’s Certificate working under Hudson Valley Balloon Port, which is owned and operated by his good friend, Russ Barber. Mike has been flying since 1999 and operates Catskill Mountain Balloon, Inc. with flights out of Columbia County Airport in Hudson, as well as Oneonta, Cooperstown and many festivals throughout the year. He has flown throughout New York, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Canada, and Japan. Mike takes every opportunity that Mother Nature allows to fly with the rising and setting of the sun.

Kim Field 

Kim first tried her hand as a Balloon Chase Crew member and becoming the pilot of her own balloon quickly became her next goal. Passing the final check-ride and holding her Commercial Pilot's License was worth the hard work involved. Sharing the joys of Ballooning continues to be a great reward for Kim. She wishes to send a special thank you to her Ballooning family, "You are the Chosen Few."

Ian Shelton

Ian Shelton, pilot & owner of Capitaine Des Vents (Captain of the Winds), is from Saint-Jean-sur Richelieu Canada.  Ian has been a pilot since 2015 and this is his 2nd year in the beautiful Hudson Valley.  Ian started off his ballooning career crewing before he got his first balloon ride, he then got hooked. He subsequently bought his own balloon and then became a pilot.  Ian enjoys attending festivals and rallies in the U.S and Canada.

Sylvain Tremblay & Johann Frève

Sylvain Tremblay has been a pilot since 2004. He has nearly 460 hours of free flight as pilot in command and more than a thousand in tethered flying at many festivals. Since 2012 he has been one of the Balloonmeister for the Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu hot air balloon festival. His great experience in meteorology makes him an excellent reference for ballooning. He truly enjoys teaching and sharing his knowledge. He is the designated pilot for PIKO, the Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu festival official balloon for many years. PIKO is known all around the world and is a big favorite in all the festivals. He is very happy to attend the Hudson Valley Hot Air Balloon festival this year!

As a second pilot on Piko, Johann's first flight was actually when he was still in Moms belly . At that time his mother was one of the first female pilots in Quebec and she taught his father to be a pilot as well.  After many flights as a passenger and participant at festivals as a crew member, Johann began as a student pilot at the age of 16.  He became a pilot in 2007 and his first festival as a pilot was at the largest event in the world, the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.  At this point, as a pilot, he attends more than 30 festivals as a pilot in America and Europe.  In 2019 Johann also became a hot air balloon flight instructor.  For him, fling is a gift and he enjoys introducing people to the wonderful experience.

Roger & Michele Hooper 

Roger & Michele own and operate Hudson Valley Balloon Adventures in East Fishkill. Roger's first ballooning experience was taking a balloon ride at the Adirondack Balloon Festival in 1983 and he then received his commercial pilot rating in 1994. Michele got the ballooning bug very young, taking her first balloon ride when she was 10 years old, is now Crew Chief. Roger and Michele enjoy flying the majestic Hudson Valley in their balloon "Limelite" with their daughter, Erin. When they are not ballooning or fishing, Roger is a Regional Sales Manager for Puratos Corporation, a Belgian manufacturer of fine chocolates and bakery ingredients in New Jersey.

Dwight E. Cramer 

Dwight is a resident of Munnsville, N.Y., and the pilot of “Paradise Island” balloon. Cramer's fascination with flying began in childhood; he went on his first balloon ride in 1992 and earned his commercial certificate in 1999. Cramer is well known for providing balloon rides over his hometown area and enjoys participating in balloon festivals throughout the northeast.

Rich Hamilton 

Rich is a Poughkeepsie resident and pilots “Rainbow with a View.” Along with his wife, Lori, and daughters, Sarah and Brittany, Rich has been involved in ballooning ever since he purchased a balloon ride for his wife's birthday many years ago. Since then, the family has attended festivals around the country and crewed for anyone who needed help. He holds a commercial pilot’s license and operates Adventure with Altitude Ballooning, LLC, in the Poughkeepsie area.

Ken Leota 

Ken flies the world's largest Tuxedo at hot-air balloon festivals throughout the northeast, Canada, and central New Jersey. He is a member of the Balloon Federation of America, the Great Eastern Balloon Association, and has been the recipient of GEBA's Ted Torok Award for Sportsmanship in Ballooning, as well as being Number One in competition in 2006. Not 'SirPrizingly,' Ken's crew includes his wife, Janet, their kids, Adam and Katie, and their Crew-Chief-Chef, Vince Downey. Many other family and friends (including John, Rosey, Courtney, Patty, David, Linda, Scott, Cynthia, Karen, Mark, many others) are also part of the "Sir Prize!" Team (and of course, Ann, Carl, & Vickie are always with us, too!) helping to share the uplifting experience of ballooning with all.

Robert Dicks 

Bob has been flying balloons since 1981. He is also a fixed wing pilot and he has a gas balloon rating. He has flown in many countries including Canada, France, Germany, Newfoundland, Mexico, and in many states. He has over 1700 hours in a balloon. He and his wife are looking forward to flying in the Hudson Valley Hot-Air Balloon Festival.

Kym Butler & Scott Richards

"My Witch's Broom 2" owned by Kym Butler, is coming back to the Hudson Valley Festival! Kym's love of ballooning started the year she saw a balloon being inflated at Lutheran Care. She pulled in to check it out and found Nikkie Negersmith setting up her balloon for the residents. Nikkie put her to work as crew and she must have done well enough because she let me help the rest of the weekend! Kym became good friend with a group of NH pilots and they helped her to get the training she needed and to find her first balloon. Kym loves sharing the adventure with her family and friends who know that magic can happen at sunrise.

Jesse Duval Harbour 

Jesse Duval Harbour has been flying balloons since 2014 and currently has 350 hours in the sky.  He is very passionate about ballooning and loves to share the magic with other people.  He truly enjoys discovering new places to fly.  He will be flying Lumy, named after his children, LUdovic and RoMY.  His children also selected the colors of the beautiful colors of the balloon.  Jesse is very excited to participate for the first time at the Hudson Valley Balloon Festival.

Scott Griswold

Carroll Teitsworth

Liberty Balloon Company was founded in 1977 by former US Navy aviator Carroll Teitsworth. From the beginning, it has been a family friendly business. In addition to providing an always exciting atmosphere for kids, many of those who have taken a ride, trained with us or served as crew have become like family as well.

To us, flying is more than a business. Ballooning is a lifelong passion, and a constant reminder of God’s gentleness, majesty and blessing. We hope if you do business with us, or just stop to watch us floating by, you will find in some measure these same inspirations as well.

Peter Turoff

The Roamin’ Candle Balloon Team is comprised of family and friends of all ages and has truly made ballooning a team sport. Their favorite part of ballooning is introducing the sport to newcomers and sharing in the excitement of lighter-than-air flight. Peter and Jennifer Turoff have been flying Roamin’ Candle since 1995. They live in LaGrangeville. A former skydiver of 15 years with 501 jumps, Peter loves the exhilaration of being airborne and shares his passion for flying with his family.

Blair Beard

Mark MacSkimming

Mark MacSkimming has been flying balloons since 1991. Mark has flown many contract corporate balloons and special shape balloons in balloon rallies throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Taiwan and Dubai UAE.  Having logged over 2,000 hours of LTA flight, Mark has successfully instructed 11 students to their private LTA license and 4 students to their commercial LTA license. Mark was safety officer for The Hershey Balloon Classic for nine years and presently serves as safety officer for the Carolinas Balloon Fest and the Ohio Challange. Mark served as the balloon meister for the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix Balloon Rally. He also holds level eight of the Balloon Federation of America’s Pilot Achievement Award Program. 

Philippe Levesque

His story begins when he was only 1 year old when his father brought him to see balloons. From that moment, he was amazed and impressed to see those gigantic, beautiful, colorful balloons. A few years after that, without missing any edition of the local balloon festival, he and his brothers continued to chase balloons with their father. At the age of 16, he started to crew at the Gatineau, Canada balloon Festival. A few years later, he joined a pilot and his team as a regular member, connecting him directly into the world of ballooning. It became, at this point, an addiction with the need to become a pilot a must! In 2020, in the middle of the COVID pandemic, he became the first Canadian pilot to get his license. A year later, he participated in his first balloon event as a pilot. Now, with more than 100 hours, it is only the beginning. He is now planning to be at the biggest hot air balloon event in the world! “Watch out world, here I come!”