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Among those surprised and disappointed was Erica Class who brought her two-year-old daughter Selena along for her first parade.
"Oh, they're not," she reacted with disappointment when hearing the news as she stood on the corner of Hoyt and Summer streets. "I brought my daughter out to see the balloons."
She said that she would watch the parade as long as her daughter enjoyed it.
The balloons — including the new one featuring the "Octonauts" — were inflated Saturday afternoon at the parade's starting point just north of downtown.
But the high Wind Advisory forced the cancellation of the balloons, with westerly winds reaching 15 to 30 mph with gusts of up to 50 mph.
The threshold for flying the big balloons is 25 mph, due to safety concerns of an out-of-control cartoon character.
The winds will be strong enough to blow down trees, limbs and power lines, the weather service warns. Minor property damage and scattered power outages are possible and can also make driving difficult.
The strong winds combined with cloudy skies and temperatures near 40 degrees appeared to be keeping down the size of the crowd. Some years, the parade draws upwards of 200,000 spectators. When the weather cooperates, it is the largest single-day event in Connecticut.
Even without the balloons, the parade started at 12 noon.
The starting point is at the intersection of Summer and Hoyt Streets. The parade continues down Summer Street and makes a left on to Broad Street and then a right on to Atlantic Street where it ends at 400 Atlantic St.
It's the 23rd year the parade and the 11th year that UBS has been the title sponsor.
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