Up, up and away!

ALPINE Anyone can get married in Las Vegas, Carlos Salgado thought. But not many tie knot at a hot-air balloon rally.

So last year, Salgado and his partner, Dianne Waggoner, decided to get hitched at the annual Big Bend Balloon Bash at Alpine.

“Within a week we planned the wedding,” Salgado said. “And we ended up getting married in a balloon.”

However, unfavorable weather allowed only five balloons to fly at last year’s event, which is always on Labor Day weekend, and Salgado and Waggoner were unable to really get up in the air. Instead, the balloon’s gondola, which looks like a basket, was tethered to the ground as the balloon lifted a little.

On Saturday morning, though, they finished what they started last year and took off high in the sky.

Asked before take-off if he was nervous, Salgado said he was. But Waggoner?

“She gets nervous going on an overpass,” he said.

They made it safely, and they rode with experienced pilot Kerry Rainey, who served as the event’s balloonmeister.

It is ultimately his call to decide if the weather is fit for flying. Wind speeds at more than 6 mph are undesirable, he said.

“It’s the wind and moisture that kills us,” Rainey said. “Some smaller balloons might be able to do 6 (mph) or 7. But my balloon’s cutoff is eight. It’s seven stories tall.”

But Alpine’s location is favorable for balloon rallies. Three years ago, the event was moved to Sierra La Rana, a gated community south of town, and a 20,000-acre field with surrounding mountains that block most of the wind.

It is perhaps the most successful balloon rally in West Texas precisely because it is not so subject to weather, said media director Guy Combs.

Combs, who was the event’s coordinator in the past, said each balloonist — 15 were there Saturday — were given $2,000 to cover some costs.

Marketing director Kip Piper has helped the event since its inception. She said she likes it because of the atmosphere and even for the fact that it is Mother Nature, and not the schedule, that dictates take-off.

“Pilots understand it’s a weather-dependent sport,” Piper said. “Yeah, it’s disappointing, but it’s part of it.”

Charlotte Thompson, an Austin resident, has been a balloon enthusiast for 20 years. She has never actually flown one — a license from the Federal Aviation Administration is required — but she is at least always part of the ground crew.

Flying, or even riding, the balloon is not necessary for her.

“I have china that’s got balloons on it,” she said, wearing a balloon-embroidered jean jacket. “If it’s got a balloon on it, I want it. I’m easy to buy for during Christmas.”

Or Labor Day.

Over at Marfa, the town was having its annual Marfa Lights Festival in the downtown area.

In years past, the Marfa Chamber of Commerce coordinated the event. But this year it was handed over to the Blackwell School Alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to restoring a school that closed in 1965 as the town integrated its schools.

The three-day festival began Friday evening with live music and booths and continued Saturday with a 10k run and 5k walk in the morning before the parade from Columbia Street to Highland Street, surrounding the Presidio County Courthouse.

The parade included fire trucks, high school marching bands, classic cars, Tin Lizzies and plenty of candy thrown from those riding in the parade.

Margie Mendoza, a Marfa native, said this year’s parade could hang with any from years past.

“It’s a big reunion,” she said. “Everyone comes together and just enjoys it. It’s a lot of candy; it’s a lot of fun.”

BIG BEND BALLOON BASH

>> Annual, always in Alpine, always Labor Day weekend.

>> Presented by the Big Bend Hot Air Balloon Association, a non-profit organization.

>> 15 balloons Saturday.

>> Association gives each balloon group $2,000 for costs.

>> Launches depend on weather —- no winds above 6 mph are ideal.