Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2013

Humpty Dumpty baloon arse is on fire!

The Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2013 was held in Clark, Pampanga. This year I was lucky enough to witness explosions of color and shapes of the hot air balloons as well as the heart-stopping jet show by the Brietling jet team. It's one of the best things to cap my birthday celebration.

The event this year was from Feb. 21-24. It unexpectedly rained on the first few days so there was little activity then. Ahh the crazy Philippines weather! I hope it's sunny everyday next year so everyone can go home happy.

Stuff to Buy

We arrived before the sun was even up because we wouldn't want to miss the highlight of the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta. To pass the time, we looked around the shops selling hot air balloon lanterns and kites. My dad bought a bat kite for around $4 or P200. 

Overpriced kites spread on the table at roughly $4 or P200

Cute Hot Air Balloon lanterns souvenirs

My sister and I got these pinwheel bugs. The wind was just as hardcore as we were, so the wings twirled the whole time. A dad and his little child approached me and asked where we got it. I pointed towards the tent, realizing that I am 24, playing with a kid's toy. I have no regrets.

So hardcore!

Pre-show Fun

The show started around 6:30AM. To pass the time, lots of people flew kites. The place was perfect for flying kites during the morning because of the wind and the cloudy sky! People still did it around 10AM even when the place was hot enough to fry bacon on heads.  There were giant kites the size of a regular human by that time but it was too hot for us to watch. 

Suraj Sharma's lookalike (aka Pi from Life of Pi) lookalike flying a kite

I wasn't able to bring my DSLR which had better zooming than the portable camera. The little dots are kites from people young and old. When we drove away it was an awesome sight seeing all the little kites with the ginormous kite scattered across the whole venue.

I've never seen that many kites in my life!

The show started with a paraglider parading the Philippine flag while the National Anthem was playing. I was annoyed that some Filipinos didn't even stand up from their mats. Some were even talking. It was very disrespectful for our country. 

This was taken before the National Anthem

The Folks

As expected the place was packed with people! Some were wise enough to bring mats and tents. They must be regulars. Others were more innovative, tearing pages from a free magazine and using that as a mat.

Pinwheels add fun to backpacks

These two don't seem to mind the dead grass

Unimpressed Clark Warrior child

Supah Pretty Hot Air Balloons

The sight of hot air balloons in Clark were more than what I imagined! While most of them were regularly-shaped, we also loved the unique designs like the tulip bouquet and upside down clothed onion Humpty Dumpty

My boyfriend's tulip hot air balloon surprise was sweet :)

Why thank you

Dad called the sun an emoticon

The firetruck was one of the last ones to be inflated

Epic shape yo

Brietling Jet Exhibition

Jopet and I found the exhibition of the Brietling Jet Team extremely wild and entertaining. It was the best part of the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2013. Yes sir, it was even better than seeing balloons everywhere. The jet pilots performed nosedives, corkscrews, loops which dazzled the audience. 

I wish the pilots could hear us go whoah while clapping our hands because we really enjoyed the tricks they did. Even a tiny miscalculated degree when flying could cost them their lives for the sake of art. 

The multiple parts where at least 2 jets fly towards each other then swerve away with inches from colliding (or a feet, I can't really tell from the ground) was wild.  Seeing them on video or with photos is only half the fun. Really, everyone should see them live! Repeat reading the previous sentence for emphasis. I am looking forward to more jet exhibitions next year.

Since this is an annual event, you can check out their website around January for more updates. Hopefully the weather will cooperate next year and it will be sunny everyday.
http://www.philballoonfest.net/

How was your experience in the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2013?