#balloonfest ‘86

[spookyxsam]

Fuck. I basically live on Lake Erie and have been to the Christmas Story House more times than I care to admit. But here are some other things that might remind you of Ohio…

-water that catches on fire.

-spelling things with our arms.

-sad professional sports.

-Ope!

-cheese on spaghetti? Yes, please.

-overly expensive private liberal arts colleges.

-corn…corn EVERYWHERE.

-Shawshank Redemption.

-wearing shorts and a winter coat in the same week. Sometimes together.

-tires, Space Jam 2 and Jeffrey Dahmer.

-SO.MANY.BALLOONS.

-it’s called pop, goddamn it.

Reblog for a bigger sample size.

Say in the tags what you voted for and if you live in or outside of the US

[theeultimatelifeform]

pls ty after voting 😁

[borgiabeacon]

Up, Up, and Astray: The Cleveland Balloonfest '86 Disaster

In August 1986, Cleveland aimed for a record-breaking event with its massive balloon release, dubbed the Cleveland Balloonfest. Organized by the United Way of Cleveland, this event was meant to be a simple, joyful fundraiser. Instead, it spiraled into a notorious mess, showing how even well-meaning plans can go dramatically wrong.

The plan was simple: release over one and a half million balloons into the sky above Cleveland's Public Square, creating a sea of vibrant colors that would float over the city, symbolizing peace and unity. Volunteers worked tirelessly, filling biodegradable balloons with helium and corralling them under a massive net. The excitement was palpable, the spectacle was set to break records, and the city buzzed with anticipation.

However, the outcome was far from what anyone had hoped. Instead of a floating parade of gaiety dispersing into the heavens, a cold front brought rain and wind, causing a premature descent of the balloons. This multicolored deluge blanketed the Greater Cleveland area, clogging waterways, littering streets, and even interrupting operations at a nearby airport.

In the aftermath, the city was swamped not only with balloons but also with lawsuits and public outcry. What began as a festive fundraiser turned into an environmental nightmare, making Balloonfest '86 a cautionary tale about the unintended consequences of large-scale promotional events.

[frnwhcom]

In 1986, Cleveland witnessed an ambitious attempt to break a world record and create a spectacular event that would leave a mark in history. BalloonFest ’86, organized by the United Way of Greater Cleveland, aimed to launch 1.5 million helium-filled balloons into the sky. What was meant to be a colorful spectacle and a fundraising success turned into chaos, leaving a lasting legacy of unintended consequences.

[mackmontgomery]

cactus

cactus ⇢ something you’re currently learning (about)?

"I've been on a real Balloonfest '86 kick the last couple days. They went for a world record for releasing the most balloons at once, this was in Ohio by the way and you won't even need me to tell you that once we get into it because it's the most Cleveland ass shit you've ever heard. Okay so, they made a whole event of it, they released something like one and a half million balloons. Stay with me on this."

"So the balloons are released, but instead of going where they wanted them to go, they start drifting back, right. Traffic is all fucked up now. The airports all jacked up. But here's where it really goes fucking wonky. These two dudes were out on Lake Erie fishing, they vanished. Coast Guard can't search for them. Why? The balloons, brother. The fucking balloons. They eventually find them, they're so dead. Millions of dollars in lawsuits for the city, whole thing bled money in the end. Guinness don't even measure balloon releasing as a world record anymore. So what was it for? I've been thinking about Balloonfest for days, I might think about it every day forever now. Like I do with the Roman Empire. And occasionally goblin sharks."

[ironychan]

Today I learned about Balloonfest 86, which is sort of an airborne answer to the Great Molasses Flood - a bright idea was not properly thought through, and resulted in an improbable disaster that sounds hilarious until you remember that people and horses died.

[patheticperipatetic]

Happy new year from China! 2024

[ultraheydudemestuff]

Cleveland Public Square

Superior Ave. and Ontario St.

Cleveland, Ohio

Public Square is the central plaza of Downtown Cleveland, Ohio. Based on an 18th-century New England model, it was part of the original 1796 town plat overseen by city founder General Moses Cleaveland of the Connecticut Land Company.  The 10-acre square is centered on the former intersection of Superior Avenue and Ontario Street.  Cleveland's three tallest buildings, Key Tower, 200 Public Square, and the Terminal Tower, face the square. Other landmarks adjacent to Public Square include the 1855 Old Stone Church and the former Higbee's department store made famous in the 1983 film A Christmas Story, which has been occupied by the Jack Cleveland Casino since 2012.

     Public Square was part of the Connecticut Land Company's original plan for the city, which were overseen by Moses Cleaveland in the 1790s. The square is signature of the layout for early New England towns, which Cleveland was modeled after. While it initially served as a common pasture for settlers' animals, less than a century later Public Square was the height of modernity, when in 1879 it became the first street in the world to be lit with electric street lights, arc lamps designed by Cleveland native Charles F. Brush. The square was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 18, 1975.

     Originally designed as four separate squares bisected by Superior Avenue and Ontario Street, the square was redeveloped in 2016 by the city into a more pedestrian-friendly environment by routing most traffic around the square. The section of Ontario Street through the square was removed, while the section of Superior Avenue was rebuilt to only allow buses with stops for multiple bus lines of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority. The northern half of the square is mostly green space and includes a statue to reformist mayor Tom L. Johnson. The southern half is mostly a paved plaza area with a cafe and water feature adjacent to the 125-foot-tall Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument and a statue of Moses Cleaveland.

     A parking lot now faces the northwest quadrant of the square. A 12-story building, which was built on the spot in 1913, was demolished in 1990 to make way for the new Ameritrust Center, an 1,197-foot skyscraper designed by New York's Kohn Pedersen Fox.  Before construction began, Ameritrust was acquired by Society Bank, which was also planning to construct and subsequently relocate to a new building on Public Square—Key Tower (formerly known as Society Center). Because Society did not need two skyscrapers, plans for the Ameritrust building across the square were scrapped.  Other buildings that face the square include 55 Public Square (1958), 75 Public Square (1915), the Society for Savings Building (1890), Metzenbaum Courthouse (1910), the former May Company department store (1914), the Park Building (1903), and the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel (1918). The demolished Cuyahoga Building (1893) and Williamson Building (1900) formerly stood on the site of 200 Public Square.

     Public Square is often the site of political rallies and civic functions, including a free annual Independence Day concert by the Cleveland Orchestra. At the Balloonfest '86, close to 1.5 million balloons rose up from Public Square, engulfing the Terminal Tower and setting a world record.  In collaboration with landscape architect James Corner, the city in 2009 began to explore concepts for a redesign of the square.  In October 2011, Cleveland mayor Frank Jackson proposed his plan to redevelop the square, which included closing Superior Avenue and Ontario Street to create a large green space in the center.  On October 23, 2014, the Cleveland Landmarks Commission approved a plan which closed Ontario Street but kept Superior Avenue open to bus traffic, and kept the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument prominent.  The project began construction on March 9, 2015, and was officially opened on June 30, 2016.

[wallvideos]

The Disaster of Balloonfest '86

[rebeleden]

Watch "The Disaster of Balloonfest '86" on YouTube

[rumcajszesmanka]

[theres-something-complicated]

[theeultimatelifeform]

for anyone who doesn't care:

Balloonfest '86 or Balloonfest of September 27, 1986 was an event that happened in Cleveland, Ohio. It was a publicity stunt that doubled as a fundraiser for United Way. It was 250 ft x 150 ft and it was over 1.5 MILLION balloons in a woven net that held it all together.

The point of it was to get the world record for most balloons released at once, to surpass Disney, who'd won it the year prior.

The balloons rose and got hit with some cold air and rain, causing them to, still inflated, rain down on the city, even drifting over Lake Eerie and clogging waterways in CANADA. People were crashing cause the balloons were falling in the roads cause people to swerve. Two fishermen who went out the previous day (Sept. 26) and never came back, their families reported them missing. The deflated balloons had made it impossible for helicopters and the Coast Guard to find anyone, describing the scene as an "asteroid field" of balloons.

On the 29th, their bodies washed up on shore, and the wife of one sued United Way for $3.5 million (settled on undisclosed terms).

Some horses were startled and resulted in permanent injuries, the owner sued United Way for $100,00 (settled on undisclosed terms).

In the end, the fundraiser lost money (cost overruns) and Guinness, although acknowledging that it won the world record, did not add it to the books due to the environmental damages and no longer adds environmentally dangerous acts such as Balloon releases.

[peterfromtexas]

Ballonfest 86

[mackmontgomery]

🌊 exploration: would you rather search the depths of the ocean or the void of space?

"Both of those things are equally terrifying when I think about them for too long. I think the ocean though, because there's a high likelihood I'm dying either way and I'd rather go out with some aquatic homies around me rather than George Clooney my way to the beyond on a slow float to somewhere remote up in space like Gravity. That movie was so fucked up. Can balloons pass the o-zone layer? I wonder if any of those Balloonfest '86 balloons made it to space. Trippy, man."

"I forgot the question."