Have you ever seen Prince George from up above? Have you ever wanted to ride in a hot air balloon and soar over the city?
The Bucket List Gala, which is a local fundraiser for the Prince George Hospice Society, wants to help you knock 'riding-in-a-hot-air-balloon' off your bucket list.
On Sept. 20, the fundraiser is hosting hot air balloon rides at the Rodeo Grounds near the CN Centre, a day before annual gala.
“One of the things that kept popping up on lists is that people wanted to go on a hot air balloon ride and so we looked into bringing one here,” says Norm Coyne, founding director of UNLTD Media and Events.
Coyne started the Bucket List Gala with the Hospice Society back in 2017, which has since raised nearly $100,000.
“It’s a gala fundraiser promoting paying attention to those things you want to accomplish on a bucket list and the affect that has on your life,” explains Coyne. “It makes you more purposeful, fulfilled person. You will live your best life if you are paying attention to your bucket list.”
The first 10 tables who purchase tickets for the event, will automatically be given passes to ride the hot air balloon the day before the bucket list gala.
The rides will take place between 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
However, Coyne says he will also be releasing a limited number of passes which will be for sale by donation and one hundred percent of the proceeds will go to the Hospice Society.
Each year the Bucket List Gala features keynote speakers, who have attempted completing their bucket lists.
Past speakers include Ben Nemtin from MTV’s The Buried Life which is a series about knocking things off your bucket list and Leon Logothetis from the Kindness Diaries, which is a Netflix series about operating on the kindness of strangers.
This year features bestselling author and TV host Robin Esrock, who is best known as the author of The Great Canadian Bucket List: One-of-a-Kind Travel Experiences.
Esrock has written several other bucket list themed books as well as hosted a series on the National Geographic channel called World Travels.
A ticket to the gala includes chances to win bucket list fulfillments of varying degrees in the weeks before the gala, with the loftiest goal given away at the night of the gala itself.
Past lowest level goals included language lessons or fitness training, while past highest level goals included a family trip to St. Lucia or Disneyland.
Things like sky diving, white water rafting and helicopter rides fall in the middle.
“Even if people don’t attend the event, it gets people thinking ‘what’s on my bucket list?’” adds Coyne. “The rationale behind it is whether it’s the first day of the rest of your life or the last day of the rest of your life you should always be thinking of those things you want to accomplish and have the capacity to do. The fact that it is also a fundraiser for hospice is just so much more beautiful.”
Tickets for the Bucket List Gala, which takes place Sept. 21 at the Prince George Civic Centre are available online now.
Passes to ride the hot air balloon by donation will be available for sale at the Prince George Hospice Society’s Office (1506 Ferry Ave.).
Coyne says depending on how many times the balloon is able to go up and down, there will potentially be passes available for sale at the site but the only way to guarantee that you will have passes is to get them in advance.
