The international balloon fiesta in Saga

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By Emika Maeyama (The Fountain staff)
November 2, 2018


The international balloon fiesta was held in Saga prefecture for five days in the first week of November, and there were more than eight hundred thousand people came to watch the balloons there. 

This festival, started in 1980, is the biggest hot air balloons’ competition in Asia. Because Saga has a large field and stable climate throughout the year, the organizer chose Saga to have a hot air balloon festival every year.

Usually, there are three sessions of events in a day, which are held in the morning, afternoon and night. So, people can enjoy watching 3 different types of hot air balloons in a day. The most popular one of these sessions is the morning one. About 100 hot air balloons fly at the same time in a blue sky. So many people get up early to get photos with those flying balloons during this time.

Masato Ryu, who was volunteering in this event said “The most attractive point for me about hot air balloons is that they can fly just with fire, without using any technology. In the future, I want to make my own team so that my team and I can fly the balloon.”
   

In the night section, all balloons are illuminated with the burner dulling a jazz band is performing lively, and this is only held at the weekend.


Many tourist come to enjoy not only balloons but also local food such as vegetables, seafood and local dishes for low prices. Besides that, because it has a big stage, people also enjoy their daily shows and concerts. After watching the shows, they can buy souvenirs such as T-shirts, stickers, and key-holder.

Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 23, 2019 at 6:28 PM

    I want to go to this festival !!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJanuary 28, 2019 at 7:07 PM

    This is very interesting, I've never been to Saga.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJanuary 28, 2019 at 7:09 PM

    The festival look amazing!!!!!

    ReplyDelete

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