At around 1:50pm on the 27th of September 1986 more than a million
helium-filled balloons were released from Public Square in Cleveland, Ohio, as
a fundraising publicity stunt. While the launch itself was successful the wind
blew the mass of balloons in an unexpected direction, resulting in
utter chaos. Millions of dollars of property damage, many injuries, and
possibly even two deaths were the result.
The stunt was coordinated by private company Balloonart by Treb, but was
backed by the city of Cleveland who were keen for some good publicity. It was
thought by many that the stunt would put Cleveland "on the map". Six months of
planning went into the release. Ss the planned day of the event approached a
rectangular structure was assembled in the southwest quadrant of Public Square.
This framework supported a net the size of a city block designed to hold the
filled blooms before the big moment of the release. Underneath this net 2,500
students and other volunteers spent hour after hour filling balloons with helium.
The target was two million balloons, but an approaching storm prompted an early
launch and the total topped out at 1.4 million. At 1:50pm on the 27th of
September huge crowds gathered to watch the balloons be released.
It was indeed a spectacular sight and one that set a world record just as the
organizers had intended. For anyone watching in Cleveland that day the
launch had all the hallmarks of a great success. The problems began in the next
few days. Most helium-filled balloons will remain aloft long enough to deflate
entirely before falling to the ground. The Balloonfest balloons, however, ran
swiftly into a band of rain and cool air which caused them to drop prematurely.
Millions of still-inflated balloons descended on the countryside of Ohio.
There they clogged waterways and covered fields. They caused multiple traffic
accidents as drivers attempted to avoid them.
They spooked horses and were consumed by livestock, causing illness and injury.
They drifted down onto the runways of Burke Lakefront Airport which was forced
to temporarily close. Worst of all, however, the balloons blanketed Lake Erie,
where they interfered with the rescue effort for two fishermen who had gone
missing. A rescue helicopter had difficulty reaching the area it was
tasked with searching and even when searches could be completed
spotting two bodies in the water amongst a star-field of colored balloons proved
impossible. On September 29th the coast guard suspended its search. The bodies of
the fishermen later washed ashore. The wife of one of the deceased men sued the
organizers of Balloonfest. So did many other people who had suffered traffic
accidents or incidents involving livestock. The vast majority of cases
were settled out of court, with costs outstripping all of the money that had
been raised by the stunt. Balloonfest, disastrous as it was, was never repeated.
The record it set stood for less than a decade before it was broken by Disney
with a much more well-planned event in 1994. If Balloonfest 86 is remembered at
all, it is remembered as an unmitigated disaster.