Quick Chek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning
Encyclopedia
The Quick Chek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning has been held annually at the Solberg Airport
in Readington Township, New Jersey
since 1983. Its lead sponsor is Quick Chek Food Stores
. In 2007, the festival hosted around 125 special shape and sport hot air balloons. It also had music concerts, crafters and vendors, food, and fireworks, which attracted more than 175,000 people. It had more than fifty corporate partners.
, brought approximately ten hot air balloons to the Union 76 Truck Stop on Interstate 78
in New Jersey
for the inaugural event. After two years they moved the festival to its current site at Solberg Airport where it grew to 40-50 balloons and 30,000-40,000 attendees.
In 1993, Howard Freeman and John Korff acquired the New Jersey Festival of Ballooning and signed a long term deal with Solberg Airport. That same year they secured a long term sponsorship agreement with Quick Chek Food Stores. In time, the festival has become the largest event in New Jersey and the largest summertime balloon festival in North America
.
In 2000, to differentiate the festival from other balloon festivals, major concerts were added to the festival. The first concert presented the legendary band, The Beach Boys
. Each subsequent festival included three major concerts. Headliners have included The Doobie Brothers
, Hall & Oates
, Styx
, Foreigner
, America
, Jonas Brothers
and KC & the Sunshine Band.
to perform a ritual
to ensure good weather for the festival. It has worked for three straight years. Freeman, one of the organizers, claims the ritual comes from Singapore
. It involves having a virgin drive a golf cart to each of the four corners of the festival site. At each corner she picks up blades of grass
, mumbles random words, penetrates whole onion
s and pepper
s with knives
, then jams the knives with the produce into the ground.
The 2007 virgin, Victoria Brumfield (born 1979), said it is a mixture of "fun and embarrassment" and that "if it does rain, my virtue is not to blame. I'm waiting until I'm married and no one has asked yet." She is a devout Mormon
.
, which funds three pediatric hospitals in New Jersey. In 2006, more than $150,000 was raised by the festival for local charities bringing the total contribution for the 13 years of Freeman and Korff's management to over $1.25 million.
Solberg-Hunterdon Airport
Solberg-Hunterdon Airport , also known as Solberg Airport is located in Readington Township, New Jersey, United States.-History:Founded in 1941 by aviation pioneer Thor Solberg, Solberg Airport is a small general aviation airport located in central New Jersey. In 1985 Mr...
in Readington Township, New Jersey
Readington Township, New Jersey
Readington Township is a Township located in the easternmost portion of Hunterdon County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 16,126...
since 1983. Its lead sponsor is Quick Chek Food Stores
QuickChek
Quick Chek is a privately owned, Whitehouse, New Jersey based chain of convenience stores with 121 stores in New Jersey and New York. The first store opened in Dunellen, New Jersey in 1967, and has since then grown into a chain...
. In 2007, the festival hosted around 125 special shape and sport hot air balloons. It also had music concerts, crafters and vendors, food, and fireworks, which attracted more than 175,000 people. It had more than fifty corporate partners.
History
In 1983, Bill Lewis working with people from USA TodayUSA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, brought approximately ten hot air balloons to the Union 76 Truck Stop on Interstate 78
Interstate 78 in New Jersey
Interstate 78 is an east–west route stretching from Union Township, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania to New York City. In New Jersey, I-78 is called the Phillipsburg–Newark Expressway and the Newark Bay Extension of the New Jersey Turnpike...
in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
for the inaugural event. After two years they moved the festival to its current site at Solberg Airport where it grew to 40-50 balloons and 30,000-40,000 attendees.
In 1993, Howard Freeman and John Korff acquired the New Jersey Festival of Ballooning and signed a long term deal with Solberg Airport. That same year they secured a long term sponsorship agreement with Quick Chek Food Stores. In time, the festival has become the largest event in New Jersey and the largest summertime balloon festival in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
In 2000, to differentiate the festival from other balloon festivals, major concerts were added to the festival. The first concert presented the legendary band, The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
. Each subsequent festival included three major concerts. Headliners have included The Doobie Brothers
The Doobie Brothers
The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band. The group has sold over 40 million units worldwide throughout their career. The Doobie Brothers were inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004.-Original incarnation:...
, Hall & Oates
Hall & Oates
Hall & Oates are an American musical duo composed of Daryl Hall and John Oates. They achieved their greatest fame in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s. Both sing and play instruments. They specialized in a fusion of rock and roll and rhythm and blues styles, which they dubbed "rock and soul."...
, Styx
Styx (band)
Styx is an American rock band that became famous for its albums from the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Chicago band is known for melding the style of prog-rock with the power of hard rock guitar, strong ballads, and elements of American musical theater....
, Foreigner
Foreigner (band)
Foreigner is a British-American rock band, originally formed in 1976 by veteran English musicians Mick Jones and ex-King Crimson member Ian McDonald along with American vocalist Lou Gramm...
, America
America (band)
America is an English-American folk rock band that originally included members Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell and Dan Peek. The three members were barely out of their teens when they became a musical sensation during 1972, scoring #1 hits and winning a Grammy for best new musical artist...
, Jonas Brothers
Jonas Brothers
The Jonas Brothers are an American boy band. The band gained its popularity from the Disney Channel children's television network. From the shore region of New Jersey, the band consists of three brothers: Paul Kevin Jonas II , Joseph Adam Jonas , and Nicholas Jerry Jonas...
and KC & the Sunshine Band.
Virgin ritual
Since 2004, the festival has hired a virginVirginity
Virginity refers to the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. There are cultural and religious traditions which place special value and significance on this state, especially in the case of unmarried females, associated with notions of personal purity, honor and worth...
to perform a ritual
Ritual purification
Ritual purification is a feature of many religions. The aim of these rituals is to remove specifically defined uncleanliness prior to a particular type of activity, and especially prior to the worship of a deity...
to ensure good weather for the festival. It has worked for three straight years. Freeman, one of the organizers, claims the ritual comes from Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. It involves having a virgin drive a golf cart to each of the four corners of the festival site. At each corner she picks up blades of grass
Grass
Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...
, mumbles random words, penetrates whole onion
Onion
The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...
s and pepper
Capsicum
Capsicum is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Its species are native to the Americas where they have been cultivated for thousands of years, but they are now also cultivated worldwide, used as spices, vegetables, and medicines - and have become are a key element in...
s with knives
Knife
A knife is a cutting tool with an exposed cutting edge or blade, hand-held or otherwise, with or without a handle. Knives were used at least two-and-a-half million years ago, as evidenced by the Oldowan tools...
, then jams the knives with the produce into the ground.
The 2007 virgin, Victoria Brumfield (born 1979), said it is a mixture of "fun and embarrassment" and that "if it does rain, my virtue is not to blame. I'm waiting until I'm married and no one has asked yet." She is a devout Mormon
Mormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
.
Charity
A portion of all proceeds from the festival are donated to the Children's Miracle NetworkChildren's Miracle Network
The Children's Miracle Network Hospitals is an international non-profit organization that raises funds for children's hospitals, medical research and community awareness of children's health issues. The organization, founded in 1982 by the Osmond family and John Schneider, is headquartered in...
, which funds three pediatric hospitals in New Jersey. In 2006, more than $150,000 was raised by the festival for local charities bringing the total contribution for the 13 years of Freeman and Korff's management to over $1.25 million.