Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta

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Philippines International Hot Air Balloon Festival
Balloons being inflated during the 20th Festival
Genre	Hot air balloon festival
Dates	Every 2nd week of February
Frequency	Annual
Location(s)	Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga
Country	Philippines
Years active	1994–1998, 2000–2019
Founded	1994
Attendance	approx. 1
Website	https://www.philballoonfest.net/

The Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta is an annual four-day air-sporting event held each year between January and February at the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga. This event was also invented by the late Nelson Mayo in the late 1900's. It is one of the longest-running aviation sports events in the Philippines. The event attracts more than a hundred balloon pilots around the world, and an estimated 100,000+ visitors locally and from around the world come in to see this event.^[1]

Program

The Fiesta's programming has changed and developed over the years. In addition to hot air balloons, some of the attractions present have been:^[1]

• Skydiving
• Flag jumps
• Microlight demonstrations
• Rocketry demonstrations
• Small plane fly-bys and fly-ins
• Remote-control airplane and helicopter flying exhibitions
• Freestyle aerobatics
• Precision maneuvers
• Light airplane balloon bursting
• Ultralight flying formation and flour bomb dropping
• Kite-making and choreographed kite-flying
• Hi-start launch gliding
• Control-line aircraft flying
• Pylon racing
• Banner towing
• An aeromodelling symposium
• Races between ultralights and motorcycles.

History

Opening: 1994

In 1994, three years after the eruption of the Mount Pinatubo, the tourism secretary Mina Gaborand, Sang-kee Paik, British Airways General Manager John Emery, and the German aviation enthusiast Max Motschmann engineered the first ever Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta to help jumpstart the local economy and spirit of the Central Luzon region. This was done with the commitment of developing hot air ballooning as an aviation sport in the country and making the Philippines one of the leading sports aviation and travel destinations in the Asia Pacific region.^{[citation needed]}

Organizers:

• Department of Tourism (DOT)
• The Hot Air Balloon Club
• The Clark Development Corporation
• British Airways

Participants:

• 21 balloon pilots from 10 countries
• One entry from the Philippines, Captain Joy Roa, who was the only registered Filipino balloon pilot at that time.

1995

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 ultralight planes to the events.^{[citation needed]}

1996-1998

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. Between 1996 and 1998, the growing popularity of the festival was expanded to include other aero-sports activities:^{[citation needed]}

Additions:

• Sky diving
• Paragliding
• Motorized hang gliding
• Remote controlled model aircraft
• Kite flying.

Aerobatic stunts and precision maneuvers courtesy of the Blue Diamonds and later the Red Aces of the Philippine Air Force also became a regular attraction of the festival.^[2]

1999

Financial challenges faced in 1999 led to the discontinuation of the festival.^{[citation needed]}

2000

However, a notable resurgence occurred in 2000 when a total of 12 balloons and 18 light planes hailing from Thailand, Japan, and Singapore, contributed to an air rally that has since become a regular and integral element of the overall celebrations.^{[citation needed]}

2003

The year 2003 marked a significant departure from the conventional ballooning format. This departure was manifested through the introduction of specially crafted balloons, including ones shaped as a flying newspaper from South Korea and a large dog from Japan. ^{[citation needed]}

Countries Represented:

• Malaysia
• South Korea
• Japan
• Germany
• The United Kingdom
• Sweden
• Czechoslovakia
• The Netherlands

2006

The 2006 festival featured 30 multicolored hot air balloons and more than a hundred balloon pilots. It also drew approximately 60,000 visitors to the event.^[3]

Countries Represented:^[3]

• Finland
• Sweden
• The Netherlands
• Germany
• The Czech Republic
• The Slovak Republic
• Hungary
• The United Kingdom
• Canada
• The United States
• Japan
• South Korea
• Malaysia
• Singapore
• Thailand
• The Philippines.

2017

In 2017,^[4] the 21st Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta showcased 30 hot air balloons. The award-winning Twinz Aerobatic Paragliders, as well as former members of the British Red Devils also participated in the event. The Fiesta's main theme was "Exchange of Cultures," a tribute to aviation's contributions in "making the world smaller." Apart from aviation enthusiasts, the Fiesta also invited artists and performers from around the world including Turkish folk dancers, carpet makers, and ceramic masters; international singers from South Africa, Samoa, New Zealand, and Zimbabwe; and the Amganad Music and Dance Ensemble from Banaue, Philippines.^[5]

Countries Represented:^[5]

• The United States
• Canada
• Switzerland
• Sweden
• Belgium
• Germany
• The United Kingdom
• Netherlands
• Hungary
• Turkey
• China
• Japan
• Thailand
• The Philippines

2020

In 2020, the PIHABF was not held at its usual venue in Clark, Pampanga citing a "lack of government commitment" to be involved in the event amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, the organizers held a hot air balloon festival, which they dubbed as "Flying Carnival 2020", at the San Lazaro Leisure Park in Carmona, Cavite.^[6][7]

2021-2023

This fiesta went on hiatus in 2021.^{[citation needed]}

2024

The 24th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta was held in New Clark City from February 16 to 18, 2024 with the inaugural Skydiving Philippine Flag Jump ceremony.

Attractions:

• Parachute gliding
• Helicopter flying
• Jet exhibitions
• Drone racing
• Ultralight airplane flying
• Air shows by Jetpara Hawk Paramotor flying by the Global Stars Team Aerobatic from the United Kingdom
• Kite Flying Exhibition
• Fireworks display

Countries Represented:

• The United States
• The United Kingdom
• The Netherlands
• Spain
• Brazil
• Austria
• Hong Kong
• The Philippines

18 hot air balloons participated. Each balloon reached sizes of up to 30 meters and soared up to 12,000 feet.^[8][9]

See also

• Hot air balloon festivals

External links

• Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta Official site
• Hot Air Balloon Fiesta at Clark Freeport Zone at WN
• gmanews.tv/video, 1st Pinoy-made hot-air ballon shown off in Pampanga - 29 January 2008 (in Filipino)

References