Photo by Evan Bevins Vienna resident Morgan Minney, left, takes a video of her 2-year-old son Wyndell riding a sheep in the mutton-busting competition before Saturday’s night’s SEBRA rodeo at the Vienna Freedom Festival at Spencer’s Landing.

“I rode a sheep,” he said matter of factly.

The Vienna resident rode a sheep longer than any of the other contestants in the mutton-busting event preceding Saturday’s rodeo on the final night of the Freedom Festival, earning him a $20 prize. He was also the winner Friday night.

“I love that it’s right in our backyard,” said Anders’ mom Racheal Morrison, whose husband is a member of the board for the Friends of Vienna, the group that organizes the festival. “How often do you get to ride a balloon or ride a sheep?”

It had been about five years since North Hills resident Srikar Chanamolu, 9, rode in a hot air balloon back in India, and that involved a two-hour drive, his mother, Keerthara Kaja, said.

Photo by Evan Bevins Hot air balloons float above a field at Spencer’s Landing in Vienna Saturday during the final night of the Freedom Festival.

“So I thought, ‘OK, this is so nearby, just 10 minutes away, we had to do it,'” she said.

Srikar thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

“It was up, down, up, down,” he said excitedly. “It was the funnest thing I did today.”

His brother Viraj, 2, was more apprehensive at first. But eventually “he waved at his grandmom,” Kaja said.

“I told him he was up in the air like Curious George.”

The promise of a hot air balloon ride and a rodeo enticed Drew Aldinger to come to the area for the first time from Charleston. He wasn’t initially sure if his 3-year-old daughter Eden would get in the balloon’s basket, but she did and she liked it.

“Good,” she said when asked to describe the experience. “I like the color of it.”

The Aldingers rode a black balloon with a variety of other colors provided by Real Adventure Hot Air Balloon Co. out of Columbus, which was offering rides alongside Gibboney’s Aerostation from Grove City.

Michele Gibboney, whose husband Stew pilots their balloon, said they came to the festival two years ago — the weather didn’t cooperate in 2023 — and got great response.

“We had to turn people away” despite going longer than initially scheduled, she said, so they brought a second balloon along this time.

Saturday marked the end of the Freedom Festival’s second weekend, an expansion in the event’s third year. It kicked off June 29-30 at the Grand Central Mall with carnival rides, crafts, circus performers and music by multiple artists, including “American Pie” singer Don McLean.

Rain intruded both weekends, but didn’t stop the festivities, nor did the heat, said Jack Mathers, Friends of Vienna president.

“I haven’t heard too many problems,” he said. “It’s been a lot of smiles.”

Mathers said board members will meet in a couple of weeks to go over lessons learned from this year and start considering what to do the same and what to do differently for 2025.

The different events on different weekends drew different crowds, he said. The format also didn’t leave much downtime for the 20-plus-member board, but they were enjoying themselves, Mathers said.

This was the second year the festival played host to the Southern Extreme Bull Riding Association rodeo. Bullfighter Brandon Moore, whose job is to protect riders who are thrown off the animals, described it as a step below the Professional Bull Riders organization.

“This is like AAA baseball,” he said.

Vienna has been a welcoming venue, Moore said. On Friday, a heavy downpour sent spectators scattering, but the events were able to start shortly after 7 p.m.

“By the time it quit raining, they were all back in their seats,” Moore said.

Mathers estimated between 600 and 700 people watched the rodeo Friday in spite of the rain that preceded it, but with dry conditions Saturday, he expected a larger crowd.

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.