14th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2009

The 1994 event originally organized by the Department of Tourism (DOT), the Hot Air Balloon Club, and British Airways initially began with 21 balloon pilots from 10 countries and one entry from the Philippines. The success of the festival in 1994 brought about an increase in the number of participants in 1995 to 27 balloons including a basketless one-man balloon and two entries from the Philippines. The 1995 festival also saw the introduction of ultra light planes to the events.

By 1996 responsibility of the event was transferred from the Department of Tourism to Air Ads, Inc. under the watchful eyes of Captain Joy Roa who is also an avid licensed balloon pilot. Between 1996 and 1998, the growing popularity of the festival was expanded to include other aero-sports activities such as sky diving,paragliding, motorized hang gliding, remote controlled model aircraft (aero modelers), and kite flying. Aerobatic stunts and precision maneuvers courtesy of the Blue Diamonds and later the Red Aces of the Philippine Air Force became a regular attraction of the festival.

Financial difficulties in 1999 led to the cancellation of the festival, but saw a resurgence in 2000 with 12 balloons and 18 light planes from Thailand, Japan and Singapore, all participating in an air rally which has become a regular component of the festivities. 2003 saw a change in the traditional ballooning format. Specially designed balloons in the shape of a flying newspaper from Korea and a large dog from Japan made their debut over the Pampanga skyline. Balloon participation from Malaysia, Korea, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Holland, Czechoslovakia, and the Netherlands drew crowds from around the world.

Currently, the Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Festival continues to be a popular international sports aviation event. The 2006 festival featured 30 multicolored hot air balloons and more than a hundred balloon pilots from Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Hungary, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines. It also drew an approximated 60,000 visitors to the event.


Our Balloon is Portland Rose.
Music- Flying Away by Moony


www.portlandroseballoons.com/
www.wowphilippines.com.ph

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Finland
• Sweden
• the Netherland
• Germany
• Czech Republic
• Slovak Republic
• Hungary
• United Kingdom
• Canada
• United States
• Japan
• Korea
• Malaysia
• Singapore
• Thailand
• Philippines
• Hot Air Balloon
• Clark Fiesta
• Festival
• Night glow
• Tourism
• Aviation
• Skydiving
• Philippine Flag
• Portland Rose
• aerosports
• sports
• fireworks
• kellog's
• Filipino
• Australia

[AlgisKemezys]

Hello There! Nice video. Hope your summers been fun ? We just had a Balloon festival in Montreal. Rated

[riain]

@AlgisKemezys

Thanks mate. I am currently based in Hanoi now since last May and the weather during the summer here is horrible. :S

[ngz365]

balloon in this weather ? are you kiddin me !? you will BBQ yourself if you try it !

[riain]

Tried it last year, we were fine. Besides lift off is around 6AM so the sun is still not too hot. :)

[andrzejz1000]

Nice video ! salutation from Poland. look to " zawody balonowe kwidzyn"

[camera1586]

ah i see.. thanks.!

[riain]

We were able to enter the field because we rode one of the balloons which costs 150USD per person< I dunno about paying to enter the field. But I think you can have a good vantage point if you have a good lens. VIP Passes apparently has already ran out. Please contact Asian Air Safari people on Facebook- they are are organizing the event.

Btw sometimes flights are canceled due to prevailing wind conditions and sometimes they get delayed.

[camera1586]

i saw on a blog that we have to pay 150.. but my photgrapher friend told un that he payed 1000php to actually enter the field. i dont know now if this is true.. does the balloons fly exactlyas scheduled?

[riain]

I think there was an entrance fee. I forgot how much it was. Not all are permitted to come close to the balloons though, you may need to write to the organizers (say if you are a photographer,etc).