The 12th Annual Cathedral City Hot Air Balloon Festival runs Friday, November 20, through Sunday, November 22, 2026. None of its balloons take off from Cathedral City. All three morning launches are in Rancho Mirage, around 7 a.m., at Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa and The Westin Rancho Mirage Golf Resort & Spa. The official schedule lists those launches as free to watch, with free parking and no ticket needed.
The Festival Lawn & Amphitheater at 68700 Avenida Lalo Guerrero holds everything after dark: the balloon glow, the drone shows and the stage. Saturday is the only ticketed day there. Plan the weekend around that split and you'll pay for the night you want and catch the mornings for free.
Where the balloons leave the ground
The weekend opens Friday at Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa Rancho Mirage, 32250 Bob Hope Drive. Arrival is at 6 a.m., and the launch is listed for about 7 a.m. The schedule calls it "the festival's traditional kickoff and first launch of the weekend."
Saturday and Sunday move to The Westin Rancho Mirage, 71333 Dinah Shore Drive, with the same 6 a.m. arrival and roughly 7 a.m. launch. On Sunday, the schedule specifies that balloons lift off from the resort's driving range. The festival lawn has nothing on its Sunday schedule, so the weekend ends where it began, in a Rancho Mirage parking lot at dawn.
Earlier listings showed only a Sunday launch at The Westin. The organizers' schedule, updated October 15, now lists launches there on both Saturday and Sunday mornings. Check that page again the week of the event.
Morning launches are free to watch, with free parking. No ticket needed. All balloon activity is weather permitting.
The weekend by place and price
| When | Where | What happens | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri., ~7 a.m. | Agua Caliente, Rancho Mirage | Sunrise launch | Free |
| Fri., 5 p.m. on | Festival Lawn, Cathedral City | Rides, artisan vendors, pilot talks, U2 tribute at 6, mini glow at 7:30, drone show at 7:45 | Free |
| Fri., 7 p.m. | The Westin, Rancho Mirage | Grooves at The Westin glow concert | Separate ticket |
| Sat., ~7 a.m. | The Westin, Rancho Mirage | Morning launch | Free |
| Sat., 3 p.m. on | Festival Lawn, Cathedral City | Vendors, Just A Girl at 3:30, DJ A-One at 5, Robin Thicke at 6:30, Balloon Glow and drone show at 7:45 | $12 to $55 |
| Sun., ~7 a.m. | The Westin driving range | Morning launch | Free |
Friday night on the lawn costs nothing. The festival's ticketing page says "Friday activities are FREE — no ticket required." Grizzly Entertainment runs the drone show.
Friday's Westin concert is a separate event. The lineup is DW3 and BPM, featuring Brian Bromberg, Paul Brown and Michael Paulo, with special guest Gregg Karukas. Tickets are sold through Grooves at The Westin and aren't included with festival admission.
What a Saturday ticket buys
Saturday's ticket tiers depend on how close you want to be to the stage. The balloons are included at every level.
- Festival-Only, $12: the grounds from 3 to 9 p.m., vendors, food trucks, the artisan market, kids' activities, the Just A Girl No Doubt tribute on the Glow Stage, and the official Balloon Glow. It doesn't include the amphitheater or Robin Thicke.
- General Admission, $35: everything above, plus the amphitheater for DJ A-One and Robin Thicke. Small folding chairs and blankets are allowed in designated zones, and you can leave and come back.
- Preferred Seating, $55: a guaranteed seat in a section closer to the main stage. Seats within the section are first-come, first-served.
VIP tables for 2026 are sold out. A $15 add-on puts you on a private third-story rooftop over the lawn for the Balloon Glow, with its own bar, and works with any of the three Saturday tickets. Prices include fees. They go up during festival week, starting November 18, and are higher at the gate. Children 8 and under get in free with a ticketed adult, and all sales are final.
Anyone who wants more than the view can book through Zion Balloons, an independent operator that runs the rides. A morning balloon flight is $350 per person with a 10% refundable deposit. A tethered ride over the Festival Lawn is $30 before festival week and $35 after. Both are weather permitting.
Five hundred free concert tickets for Cathedral City residents
Agua Caliente Casinos is giving Cathedral City residents free General Admission tickets to Saturday's Robin Thicke show. The process runs on a deadline:
- Pick up a voucher at the ACE Club inside Agua Caliente Casino Cathedral City, 68960 E. Palm Canyon Drive, by 5 p.m. on Thursday, November 19.
- Bring a valid photo ID showing a Cathedral City address. Pickup is inside the casino, so you must be 21 or older and an ACE Club member. You can join when you pick up.
- The voucher itself isn't a ticket. Scan its QR code, choose the Saturday General Admission Robin Thicke Concert, and enter the promo code by that same deadline.
- It's one voucher per resident, first come, first served, and only 500 are available.
As of this Thursday, the pickup window is three weeks long. Paid prices rise on November 18, one day before the voucher deadline.
Why Thicke is on the bill again
Robin Thicke was set to headline the 2025 festival on Friday night. As KESQ reported on November 20, 2025, organizers canceled his concert, all of that Friday's programming, the Agua Caliente sunrise launch and the Saturday morning launch at The Westin. Palm Springs International Airport had issued Instrument Flight Rules conditions, meaning low cloud ceilings and reduced visibility put the weather below safe visual flying minimums. Rain was forecast through Saturday morning.
KESQ's report quoted organizers saying the call was made "out of an abundance of caution for the safety of attendees, balloon pilots, crews, and performers." The report said the Saturday festival and Sunday events were scheduled to proceed as planned, and that balloon ride ticketholders for the canceled launches would receive full refunds.
This year, Thicke moves to Saturday at 6:30 p.m. on the main stage.
The 2026 tickets page says the event takes place "rain or shine." The schedule still says all balloon activity is weather permitting. In 2025, the weather canceled two of the three morning launches, and those launches are also the free part of the weekend.
Getting to the lawn, and dinner before the gates
The festival's Plan Your Visit page lists an on-site garage next to the Festival Lawn with free parking. For the morning launches, the FAQ says signs at the Rancho Mirage lots will direct you.
The FAQ says backpacks are allowed but "all backpacks will be searched." Small individual folding chairs and blankets can go only in the designated chair areas, one per person and space permitting. Security has the final say, and there's no refund if chair space runs out.
Mark's Burgers is the closest sit-down meal to the lawn. It's at 68718 E. Palm Canyon Drive, Suite 201, in the Mary Pickford plaza. The Coachella Valley Independent gave its $15.95 double smash burger an Indy Endorsement on October 2 and noted the place opened last fall. Mark's has table service, beer and wine, chicken sandwiches, tacos, salads, veggie burgers and milkshakes. Show a movie ticket from Mary Pickford Is D'Place and you get 10% off.
For something faster, Starbucks and Chipotle are at Cathedral Cove Center, on the southwest corner of Date Palm Drive and E. Palm Canyon Drive, according to the Desert Sun. NBC Palm Springs covered both openings in September 2025, and the city's May 2026 State of the City recap said both were serving customers.
The lawn's next free nights
Two weeks after the balloons, the city's holiday events start, and both are free. Feliz NaviDOG is Saturday, December 5, at the Esperanza Park dog park, 30610 San Diego Drive. Registration opens at 9 a.m. and the contest starts at 9:30. The Cathedral City Parks and Community Events Commission organizes it.
SnowFest 2026 returns to 68700 Avenida Lalo Guerrero on Saturday, December 12, from 4 to 8 p.m. The Mayor and Santa light the tree. That's the same address as the Balloon Glow, this time with no ticket tiers.
If you're watching the sunrise launch from Bob Hope Drive or planning around the free Friday night downtown, Bernal Smith Group is happy to share what we know about getting around the valley that weekend, from launch-lot parking to the walk from Mark's to the lawn. Contact Us if you're hosting guests for the festival and want to plan their visit around it.
