Article by Jay Sanni, Photos from International Balloon Festival Facebook Page
Calgary: The annual Heritage Inn International Balloon Festival took place on September 26, 2018. It was a three day festival that ran until September 30th. The festival which began in 2013 featured “28 hot air balloons” as well as pilots from around the world – mainly, “from England, Scotland, and the United States…and they’ll be bringing balloons of all shapes, sizes and colours.”
According to the Avenue Calgary website, this year, “for the first time, spectators can book a ride with some of the other pilots not competing in the Canadian Championships, known as fiesta pilots.” The event takes place at the Heritage Inn in Hotel and Convention Center in High River, located 30 minutes south of Calgary. For the most of the event, the pilots compete against each other to see whose hot air balloon can go the furthest while spectators gather to watch them compete, enjoy a ride in a hot air balloon, eat, and just have fun.
