Summer is the season for ballooning as festivals take place across the world. Here are a few scenes of the fun and grandeur spanning from Texas to France.Pilot Bill Woodhead of Grants Pass, Ore. flies "Arky," a hot air balloon made to look like Noah's Ark, attempts to the place the ring on a target pole, after flying over two miles to the East Texas regional airport during the final race of the 33rd "Great Texas Balloon Race" in Lakeport, Texas on Sunday Morning, July 31, 2011. (AP Photo/Dr. Scott M. Lieberman)
Volunteers help inflate a hot air balloon Friday, July 29, 2011 near Maysville, Ky. during the 5th Annual Buffalo Trace Balloon Race. (AP Photo/The Ledger Independent, Terry Prather.)
A large group of hot air balloons, including a butterfly balloon, inflate early Friday, July 29, 2011, at the QuickChek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning in Readington, N.J. The hot air balloon festival runs through Sunday. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
A large group of hot air balloons, including a large flag balloon, inflate early Friday, July 29, 2011, at the QuickChek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning in Readington, N.J. The hot air balloon festival runs through Sunday. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
Two-year-old Griffin Friend, left, helps his mother Vanessa Friend, of Annandale, N.J. , and Rick Falker, right, of Downingtown, Pa. as they gather tether lines as a large group of hot air balloons inflate early Friday, July 29, 2011, at the QuickChek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning in Readington, N.J. The hot air balloon festival runs through Sunday. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
Pilot Andre Boucher, of Quebec, wears a vintage helmet liner and goggles as he prepare to fly the Super FMG hot air balloon Friday, July 29, 2011, at the QuickChek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning in Readington, N.J. The hot air balloon festival runs through Sunday. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
Pilot Michael Blum, right, of Union City, N.J., crew chief John Fairty, kneeling, of Greenwhich, Conn., and Don Wicks, of Hicksville, N.Y., untangle lines before inflating the Beemster Gourmet Dutch Cheese hot air balloon Friday, July 29, 2011, at the QuickChek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning in Readington, N.J. The hot air balloon festival runs through Sunday. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
A group of photographers and pilot Scott McClinton, of Prospect, KY, glow in the light of flames as he inflates the AT&T hot air balloon early Friday, July 29, 2011, at the QuickChek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning in Readington, N.J. The hot air balloon festival runs through Sunday. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
Hot air balloons glow in the night as part of the opening ceremonies of the 33nd annual "Great Texas Balloon Race" in Longview, Texas on Friday night, July 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Scott M. Lieberman)
A hot air balloon soars over the downtown area of Maysville, Ky. late Friday, July 29, 2011. Maysville was the site of the 5th Annual Buffalo Trace Balloon Race. (AP Photo/The Ledger Independent, Terry Prather)
Hot air balloons approach the target area for the "key grab" Saturday, July 30, 2011 in the Great Texas Balloon at the East Texas Regional Airport south of Longview, Texas. The pilots try to skim the ground and put a ring around the pole in the center of the target area. (AP Photo/The Tyler Morning Telegraph, Herb Nygren Jr)
Hot air-balloons fly over Chambley-Bussieres, eastern France, Sunday, 31, July 2011, during the International Lorraine Mondial Air Ballon Festival. (AP Photo/Mathieu Cugnot)
Hot air-balloons take off from a field in Chambley-Bussieres, eastern France, Sunday, 31, July 2011, during the International Lorraine Mondial Air Ballon Festival. (AP Photo/Mathieu Cugnot)
WASHINGTON - JUNE 11: Jim Wilson of the Washington-Baltimore Chapter of the Morse Telegraph Club speaks to people about how Morse Code operators were used in observation balloons during a demonstration on the National Mall June 11, 2011 in Washington, DC. Re-enactors, Smithsonian staff and volunteers demonstrated an American Civil War-era balloon near where in 1861 Professor Thaddeus Lowe showed the technology to President Lincoln as a potential tool for spying on Confederates. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON - JUNE 11: People look at an American Civil War-era observation balloon during a demonstration on the National Mall June 11, 2011 in Washington, DC. Re-enactors, Smithsonian staff and volunteers demonstrated an American Civil War-era balloon near where in 1861 Professor Thaddeus Lowe showed the technology to President Lincoln as a potential tool for spying on Confederates. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON - JUNE 11: People pass a model of an American Civil War-era observation balloon during a demonstration on the National Mall June 11, 2011 in Washington, DC. Re-enactors, Smithsonian staff and volunteers demonstrated an American Civil War-era balloon near where in 1861 Professor Thaddeus Lowe showed the technology to o President Lincoln as a potential tool for spying on Confederates. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON - JUNE 11: Charles Brady, an Abraham Lincoln portrayer, and Kevin Knapp, a Thaddeus Lowe portrayer, pose with people in a balloon basket during a balloon demonstration on the National Mall June 11, 2011 in Washington, DC. Re-enactors, Smithsonian staff and volunteers demonstrated an American Civil War-era balloon near where in 1861 Professor Thaddeus Lowe showed the technology to o President Lincoln as a potential tool for spying on Confederates. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images)
Hot-air balloons fly in the sky during the first day of the Lorraine World Air Balloons festival (LMAB), on July 22, 2011 in the French northeastern city of Chambley. The LMAB is the biggest gathering of hot-air balloons in the world and about 400,000 spectators are expected to attend the event which runs from July 22-31. AFP PHOTO / JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN (Photo credit should read JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN/AFP/Getty Images)
A colorful hot-air balloon takes off during the first day of the Lorraine World Air Balloons festival (LMAB), on July 22, 2011 in the French northeastern city of Chambley. The LMAB is the biggest gathering of hot-air balloons in the world and about 400,000 spectators are expected to attend the event which runs from July 22-31. AFP PHOTO / JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN (Photo credit should read JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN/AFP/Getty Images)
A hot air-balloon flies over Chambley-Bussieres, eastern France, Sunday, 31, July 2011, during the International Lorraine Mondial Air Ballon Festival. (AP Photo/Mathieu Cugnot)