"Canowindra" the Kookaburra balloon, an icon from the days of the Marti's Balloon Fiesta, was inflated on Thursday morning.

Balloonist and member of Canowindra Historical Society, Suze McKenzie said it was a thrill to see the balloon in all its glory.

"We weren't sure if it would even stand up," she said.

"We put cold air in and then we heated up that cold air with the burner and hot air rises... and the balloon stood up and it was just perfect. It was beautiful."

Four balloon pilots and a crew of dedicated volunteers were on deck to help with the inflation.

The balloon was built by Frank Hackett-Jones, who started the Marti's festival in honour of his mother.

Its first flight took place on April 19, 1996.

When Marti's ended, Mr Hackett-Jones gave the balloon back to the community and it's now in the possession of the Historical Society.

Mrs McKenzie said while the balloon will never fly again, she hopes to see it inflated more in the future.

"Technically, now, it is considered an artifact of the museum," she said.

"But a balloon in a bag is really just a whole bunch of fabric in a bag rotting away so we decided to inflate the balloon and see what its condition was.

"When it came out of the bag, it was a little bit smelly, and you could tell there was mould forming so all the hot air that went into it yesterday would have killed that mould so actually... we were preserving it.

"It was the best thing to do with it really.

"My personal opinion, based on what we know about the balloon now, is that it's not airworthy and never will be, and it's not suitable for a balloon glow however, because it stands up and it's so beautiful, there is no reason why the town and the Historical Society can't arrange to have it inflated on special occasions."

The Canowindra International Balloon Challenge will be held between Saturday, April 24 and Sunday, May 2.