Tags: Festivals and Fiestas, Travel Tales and Tips
By Anna Valmero
ANGELES CITY, PAMPANGA – This annual event gathers balloon enthusiasts, skydivers, paragliders, kite flyers and hundreds of Philippine Air Force members. It aims to boost interest on aviation and other fields related to flying.
For this year, at least 26 hot air balloons from local and international groups will be flown from Thursday to Sunday. Watch out for six balloons shaped into a birthday cake, ice cream, sunflower, a kiwi bird and even a car.
Families and teenagers gather here along with flying enthusiasts, including Air Force Units from abroad.
For those attending the event for the first time, here are some helpful tips to make the experience fun and hassle-free.
Be early. Preparations for the hot air balloon start very early in the morning so better be at Clark by 4a.m. This gives you enough time to grab a quick breakfast, park your car and secure the best position to watch and take photos.
The hot air balloon was invented in 1782 and is dubbed the oldest flight technology. The balloon, also called the envelope, is made bouyant by the heated air from the huge fuel tanks and rises to the sky carrying the humans in the basket or capsule. It takes about 30 to 40 minutes to fill up the envelope with hot air and set it to fly.
NEVER forget your camera. The highlight of the event is, of course, when the balloons take flight – one by one and then all of them literally up in the air. And documenting them in photos is one of the best ways to hone your photography skills.
A handy digital camera is good for landscape shots, while digital SLRs with telephoto lenses are highly favorable so you get better shots of the balloons, paragliders, kites and other flying thids. For more stable shots, use a tripod or monopod.
Get your tickets right away. Once you arrive, proceed to the ticket booth before the lines get longer. A 200 peso ticket (for adults) gives you an all-day pass to the event. If you get tired of craning your neck up, you can browse the Philippine Air Force exhibit or go shopping at the makeshift bazaar.
You can choose to have lunch outside or go duty-free shopping around Clark and then come back after later in the afternoon (when the sun’s not so hot anymore). But make sure you have your ticket and your wrist stamped.
Bring food, water and picnic mats. Anticipating the flight of hot air balloons is a personal event in itself. Water and food is allowed inside the spectator’s area so you can eat breakfast during or after the balloons take flight. Be sure to bring chairs and mats for the kids.
Visit the aviation exhibits. To promote the aviation industry, the Philippine Air Force has over 20 model planes on display, including the machine breakdown of each model. Learn more about aviation by asking the accommodating staff to answer some of your questions. For souvenirs, score a model hot air balloon at the local sellers for under P200. Food stalls are also located at the tiangge section.
Some 100,000 tourists are expected to join this year’s four-day event, according to Clark Development Corporation president Felipe Remollo.
How to get there: From NLEX, take Dau exit and follow the signs leading to Clark Field. Take the main road from the entrance and turn right at Air Force City.
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