Huge Illinois Christmas Fest Faced Power Outage Caused by One Mylar Balloon

One balloon caused quite a bit of trouble over the weekend at one of the biggest Christmas festivals in Illinois, Rockford's Stroll on State.

Imagine this.

You're enjoying Stroll on State's 10th Anniversary. You're able to walk around without freezing because the weather cooperated, you spent some time collecting hats and gloves for those in need, hosted a contest, walked down the street with your mom, dad and niece... and suddenly you walk into a restaurant, starving, and the power goes out.

Not too hard to imagine if you were anywhere near where I was on Saturday at Stroll on State in downtown Rockford.

My parents had just gotten a table at Woodfire on E. State Street, ordered drinks and texted me to say the table was ready.

My niece Madeline and I walked in right as the lights went off.

They came back on for a bit and after we got our food (thankfully, because when I say I was starving that's an understatement...) the power went out completely.

We finished eating my the flashlight on my phone and quickly paid our bill, miraculously the cash registers were working just fine.

We got in the car to drive home to my parents house when I was able to check social media to see what the heck happened?

Then I found out.

One mylar balloon that wasn't even really near State Street caused the outtage, which took down much more than the power at Woodfire.

According to the Rock River Current, the balloon was a mile and a half away near the Nicholas Conservatory, and the interaction between the balloon and a power line caused the lines at Madison and Market to go down.

As far as I can tell there were no injuries, thankfully, but unfortunately businesses that had to shut down early on what might've been the best Stroll on State thus far.

Where were you when the power went out?

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