Hot Air Balloon Festivals Are For Lovers – Balloon Festivals Of The World

To float away in a hot air balloon, every debtor’s dream…or to have one land in your backyard where you will be awarded a bottle of champagne (proper ballooning etiquette requires this). Hot Air Balloons are fascinating modes of transportation (or get away) left over from a bygone era, a romantic’s passion and a daydreamer’s delight. Attending a hot air balloon festival can be a truly fascinating experience and they seem to happen almost everyday somewhere in the world.

Few gents are aware that this can make a most excellent, and memorable first date. It seems in much the same way a woman secretly adores a man with a wicked cookie duster, they also are extremely attracted to a man who is intrigued by not just his own hot air. That said, let’s check out some of the more interesting hot air balloon celebrations that happen around our planet! Enjoy and bon voyage!

Lorraine Hot Air Balloon Festival (France)

Held on the tarmac of the French military base Chamblain Planet’ Air Base every two years at the end of July, located right outside of the French city of Chamblain. Many people and especially pilots from all over the world gather there in order to try to beat the world record for simultaneous launch. In 2009 there were 326 hot air balloons that set a new world record.

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Winter Hot Air Balloon Festival Of The Swiss Alps

The annual Winter Alpine balloon festival is yet another one of the most famous ballooning festivals in the world. For this reason one of the best-known winter resort towns,Château-d’Oex has come to play host to the event year after year. The carnival and festive atmosphere is lively and infectious, it seems to be all that folks are interested in…besides skiing, of course. 

If by any reason you happen to miss the festival, there are a few other “hot air balloon” weeks, when you can try “winter flying.” You can soar like a bloated winter bird above majestic peaks and snowy alpine valleys.  A scene set on  a Steampunk holiday card for sure.

The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta (New Mexico, USA)

Every year there is the same old traffic problem in the city of Albuquerque, drivers creep along slowly eyes off the road and to the sky.The smarter ones choose to pull over in order to watch the huge variety of colourful balloons filling the cloudless autumn sky without the distraction of a fender bender. This traffic stopper is the annual hot air balloon festival of Albuquerque, which is famous for its more than 800,000 visitors.

Imagine the sight! Hundreds of hot air balloons each higher than 15 metres above the Earth, rising together with the morning sun, and then, driven by the gentle breeze, they travel over the Rio Grande River and Albuquerque against the picturesque Sandia Mountains. Dawn Patrol!

This is another of the heavy hitters of hot air balloon festivals worldwide, and it grows larger and larger every year. The festival started in 1972 in a parking lot,  involving only 13 balloons and a handful of enthusiasts. By 1978 it had really blown up (pun intended),  273 balloons were now participating, which made it the world’s largest hot air balloon festival for its time. The festival draws balloon pilots from all over the US and from at least 20 other countries. The media is actually well represented too, the festival is know all over as the most photographed event…ever!

New Jersey Hot Air Balloon Festival (United States)

This spectacular hot air balloon extravaganza in New Jersey is one of the biggest aviation expos in North America. It takes place annually, during the last weekend of July, at the Solbarg Airport in New Jersey. This gathering not only has a long-year history, but is also known as one of the top one hundred must attend festivals in the country! It is visited by more than 200,000 people every year from all over the world.