19th International Philippine Hot Air Balloon Fiesta

E V E N T

1 9 T H  I N T E R N A T I O N A L  P H I L I P P I N E

H O T  A I R  B A L L O O N  F I E S T A

One thing I'm always fascinated with are things flying or floating in the sky. So surely, the 19th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta, held at Clark Field Pampanga, was an event I would like to witness.

We arrived at Clark Field at 7 in the morning, and surprisingly, there were already a great number of people gathered in the area. We were not so sure where to go exactly, so we headed first to the hotdog stand and ate our breakfast.

The crowd was already overwhelming when we reached the venue at 7 in the morning.

Unfortunately, we arrived late to see the balloons up in the sky. What was left when we got there were these few balloons below, and they only lasted for a few minutes. They were gone before we can even get a closer look.

Aside from not getting any satisfaction with the first appearance of the hot air balloons, we were also disappointed with the programme. Around lunchtime, an aero exhibition was being shown in the field. As much as we would like to watch, it was so difficult to appreciate something like that because (1) we cannot really see closely due to the heavy number of people who were also interested to witness such and (2) it got boring, for me. So after the endless aero exhibition, we just went for a walk and stayed on the crowdless field, thinking if we'll go somewhere else or stay and wait for something interesting to happen.

The whole afternoon was just about kiteflying. What-is-going-on!? I was here for the balloons!!

I know, I mentioned to you how I love seeing flying objects, but the kiteflying was not enjoyable when you don't have a kite.

We were really starting to get hopeless, that we got out of the field and just went to the mall nearby to breathe fresh air and just chill. Luckily, there was a mini atv rental where we could spend some hours, at least to say that we enjoyed Pampanga.

After the fun atv ride, we went back to the venue and scored a good spot for the mini concert until evening.

The artists were fine, some, impressive. Just one thing. It kept drizzling the whole day, and also night. I do not know what it is with this year's Hot Air Balloon Fiesta, but what I can say is that there's a huge chance I wouldn't be going to next year's event.

Rhoge and I at the mini concert.