Video: Balloons Grounded on First Launch Day of Hudson Hot Air Affair

It's said that if you build it—or in this case inflate it—they will come. 

"We estimate that we have about 10,000 people who come to Hudson every February for the Hot Air Affair," said Evy Nerbonne, president of the Hudson Hot Air Affair, the largest winter hot air balloon festival in the Midwest.

Those 10,000 people made their way to Hudson with a goal of seeing dozens of multicolored works of art soar through the sky. However, the weather prevented that from happening on the morning of Saturday, Feb. 5, 2011.

"The weather hasn't really cooperated with us this morning," said Travis Vencel, a hot air balloon pilot. "We need visibility of about three miles so we can see where we're going."

Vencel and other pilots had to keep their hot-air balloons grounded due to the dense fog.

"Welcome to hot-air ballooning, where weather is king," Nerbonne joked.

Balloon pilots hoped that the weather would allow them to launch in the late afternoon, but that never happened.

"It's February, you have to expect it," said Rebecca Murphy of Stillwater, MN.

Instead, Murphy and all of the others who made it out to Saturday's festivities made the most of the spectacle by taking in all of the various attractions.

Murphy admits that if the event were not taking place, there's no other reason why she'd travel to Hudson in February.

"No, absolutely not," she laughed. "This is a good excuse to come over here."

Meanwhile, others used this event to show support for their beloved Green Bay Packers.

"A year ago when we were picking themes, we talked to 'Saint' Vincent Lombardi," Nerbonne explained. "And [he] said that if we picked the 'When Pigskins Fly' theme, that he would deliver the Packers to the Super Bowl."

Lombardi apparently made that wish come true. He did not, however, bring ideal weather to Hudson on the first Saturday of February.

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