Barcelona (EFE).- Forty hot air balloons from around the world have inaugurated today with a simultaneous flight the 27th European Balloon Festival in Igualada (Barcelona), an event that combines competition with “the playful aspect of flying and the beauty of this sport ” and that each year attracts more than 25,000 spectators.
The balloon festival brings together teams from the United States, India, Tunisia, Dubai, Turkey, Austria, England, Luxembourg and Monaco, as well as Spaniards, and is the largest in southern Europe, the organization of the event has reported, which will last until on Sunday and will feature cultural activities and sports events in which participants will compete to win the festival trophy.
In the inaugural flight, the balloons have flown over the Conca d’Òdena and the teams have competed in “the target”, a test in which the participants have had to launch a “testimony” on a target located in the Pla de la Massa and that Carles Figueras from Igualado has won.
The outstanding novelty of the morning was the presentation of the “romantic” basket, manufactured this year by the local company Ultramagic, with two seats for passengers and one for the balloon pilot, with an access door, a lower railing than usual. usual, two seats and a small table so that couples can have a tasting during the flight.
The basket already existed in its four-seater version, but “many couples asked to fly solo”, so Ultramagic decided to offer a two-seater that they have already sold in Switzerland and that a couple from the capital of the Anoia.
This edition of the European Balloon Festival will have the traditional flights at 6:30 a.m. until Sunday and at 7:30 p.m. until Saturday, all from Parc Central, except the one on Friday morning, in which some balloons will leave from the Plaza de Cal Font or the Plaza del Ayuntamiento and others from the usual point.
Shows and concerts as well as balloon flights
Balloon flights and sports events will coexist during the days of the festival with ‘food trucks’, shows, concerts and “wind igloos” made from recycled balloon fabrics, installed in different central points of Igualada.
On Saturday night, which will culminate in a concert by Triquell, a former contestant on the TV3 program “Eufòria”, the city will host “Night Glow”, a night-time balloon lighting accompanied by a drone exhibition devised by the company Flock Drone Art that “He will draw a story in three dimensions in the sky.”
A hundred drones will fly simultaneously using “state-of-the-art technology that synchronizes movement, lighting and music”, in a show about the history of Ultramagic and the relationship of the city of Igualada with balloons.
The areas designated for parking in previous editions will be occupied by balloons this year as a result of the remodeling of Parc Central, so the festival organization recommends that attendees walk to the airfield.