As September air brings cooler weather to North Texas, there's still plenty of hot air in Plano, as the 2007 Plano Balloon Festival gets underway. The three-day event can have you floating in a cloud if you take advantage of the $250-per-person balloon rides. But for most of the 100,000-plus visitors, watching 75 bright, clever and creative balloons fill the air each day (twice on Saturday and Sunday) with floating art is the highlight of the annual festival. Balloons feature imaginative shapes and creative designs, including famous cartoon characters from American popular culture. Evening flights offer the spectacle of the balloons glowing as they are inflated. Balloons won't be alone in the sky above Plano's Oak Creek Park; each day, the Re/Max parachute team performs an amazing array of air acrobatics, landing in the balloon take-off area. In addition to spectacular views of the floating orbs, visitors enjoy music and other entertainment, an abundance of food (funnel cakes and other rich festival fare) and fun things for kids and the family at the Kids Fun Zone. Balloons launch Friday at 6PM, Saturday at 7AM and 6PM and Sunday at 7AM and 6PM. See the official Web site above for admission fees, parking, handicap access and driving directions.

-- Gary Taylor