MIDDLETOWN — Event organizers were ready Saturday strong winds to alter plans at the annual hot air balloon festival.

Which is why new offerings — including fireworks and laser light shows — were added for the 10th anniversary of the MidUSA Ohio Challenge Hot Air Balloon Festival, said organizer Ann Mort.

“We try to look for things that aren’t weather-dependent,” Mort said.

Mort said high winds caused the cancellation of Saturday morning’s MidUSA Ohio Challenge in Smith Park — in which balloon pilots drop bean bags at ground targets.

“(The weather) makes the event more challenging than others because sometimes the main event doesn’t happen,” Mort said.

The second day of competition is expected to run from 7 to 11 a.m. today.

Mike Gliatti of Lebanon, owner and chief pilot for Bella Balloons, said his company had pre-sold 40 balloon rides for the two-day festival but the high winds allowed only for four rides on Friday.

“It’s very relaxing; an ultra-smooth ride,” Gliatti said. “There’s no sense of motion so you can’t get motion sick.”

Gliatti said he’s been a balloonist for nine years and enjoys Middletown’s festival because of the variety it offers.

“There are model rockets, balloons, music, vendors,” he said.

Over the two days, Mort estimated 50,000 people attend the festival.

“We’ve got rockets going up, skydivers coming down and balloons going up,” Mort said.

Scott and Tracy Bourasso of Lebanon spent Saturday at the festival with their 5-year-old son Kory.

Scott Bourasso said his son enjoyed riding the barrel train around the park grounds and seeing the Amelia Earhart walking statue.

“I want the wind to die down to see the balloons all lit up,” Scott Bourasso said of the evening balloon glow.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2179 or Hannah.Poturalski@coxinc.com.