The Monument Valley Balloon Event already features something that no other balloon festival has — the buttes and spires of Monument Valley.
Participating hot-air-balloon pilots are from far-flung locales. New this year, the shoe game — a long-standing tribal tradition — will be featured.
“We have 20 pilots that are going to be coming from all over the country,” said Roberta John, a spokeswoman for the event. “The one who’s traveling the farthest is coming from England.”
Winter is a slow season at Monument Valley. Visitors will have to be prepared for cold weather, and balloon launches may be canceled if the wind is too strong. But hotel space is not available during warmer months because Monument Valley is a major tourist destination, John said.
“I guess it’s kind of a test of endurance for people who can brave the cold,” John said.
Some events, such as the shoe game, will be in heated tents.
The game — it used to be called the moccasin game — is said to have begun when birds and other creatures argued over whether it should always be day or always be night. They decided to play a game to determine which it would be. Neither the day nor the night creatures won, so we now have day and night.
The winter-only event is a guessing game, and teams from around the Navajo Reservation will compete. The style of the game differs depending on where it’s played, but it involves shoes or cowboy boots, a yucca ball and 102 yucca stems.
Traditional songs are sung, and interpreters will be on hand to answer questions.
“It could last for hours. Sometimes it even lasts past midnight,” John said.
The festival also will include youth activities, face painting, weaving demonstrations, music and two balloon glows, in which tethered balloons are inflated and illuminated, but not launched, at night so their colors contrast against the sky