The Havasu Balloon Festival and Fair began in January 2011 as a community fundraiser organized by local Lions and Rotary clubs. We held our first festival at the Nautical Golf Course, with help from local balloon pilot Gary Moore, who brought ideas from his experience flying at balloon festivals across the country and around the world.

The festival quickly became a Lake Havasu tradition. By our fifth year, we welcomed 78 balloons, and thousands of people came to watch them fill the sky. Our setting—with balloons flying above the lake and London Bridge, and doing their famous "splash and dash" in the channel—makes for a very special experience! Volunteer boaters are also ready to help pilots whose balloons drift over the water.

As the festival grew, so did our impact. In 2018, we moved to Windsor 4 at Lake Havasu State Park. In 2024, the Lake Havasu Kiwanis Club joined our community partners. Today, proceeds are split among the three Rotary clubs, the Lions Club, and the Kiwanis Club. Each club chooses the local charities and organizations it wants to support.

By 2026, our festival had donated more than $2.4 million back to the Lake Havasu community. We’re proud that a local fundraiser started by service clubs has grown into one of the Legacy Events that brings people together and gives back to the place we call home.