The Lewiston-Auburn Balloon Festival came and went this past weekend, although hot air balloons were absent over the cities’ skies for most of the festival.

“Things have been going great. It’s been a great turnout over the past three days,” festival co-organizer Mell Hamlyn said. “It’s a little disappointing that some of the balloons didn’t make it into the sky but a lot of people got to see the balloons be inflated.”

The weekend included a parade, carnival rides and live music.

But due to inclement weather, most of the balloon launches were cancelled. The only launch that was successful occurred on Friday, with two balloons launched.

Hadley Harvest owner Julie Masciandaro watched the launch.

“It was amazing. All the fire that was underneath was truly incredible,” said Masciandaro. “Watching them inflate and take off and hearing the crowd cheer is something I will never forget.”

Hamlyn said she is thankful for everyone that came in out.

“It’s great to see the community appreciating the festival even though balloon launchings were called off,” said Hamlyn. “It goes to show how iconic the event is and what this event means to everyone who attended day and night.”

Hamlyn said it’s a testament to the theme her team picked for the event: “Rise Together.” She said her team not only thought of that as the theme for fitting for the occasion but also as a dedication to Lewiston, which is recovering from a mass shooting in October that was the worst in the state’s history.

“This festival needed a theme like this especially after the year this community has been through,” said Hamlyn.