Up is the way: Int’l balloon fest to take off on Jan 13
Months later, upon asking him how big the event turned out, Benedict reminisced to the previous interview and starts off with a laugh, “This is the 8th edition of the event and in the last few years, we’ve had 5 to 6 balloons from different countries from the world.
CHENNAI: You might not have the budget to go to Turkey to see the hot air balloons in Cappadocia, but you sure can get a glimpse of it at the 8th edition of the Tamil Nadu International Balloon Festival 2023 organised by Global Media Box in collaboration with the State Tourism Department that will take place on January 13 in Pollachi, Coimbatore.
We rewind back to the International Kite Festival when DT Next spoke to Benedict Savio, founder of Global Media Box, where he had mentioned: “a big event” that was to come up in 2023 as a touch-and-go. Months later, upon asking him how big the event turned out, Benedict reminisced to the previous interview and starts off with a laugh, “This is the 8th edition of the event and in the last few years, we’ve had 5 to 6 balloons from different countries from the world.
“This time it’s going to be more than 10 balloons and the grandeur of the event has doubled with nine countries participating in the event. This three-day event is going to have live music concerts, food and gaming stalls for kids.”
The event will officially be inaugurated on January 12 and will go on from January 13 to 15. The nine countries that will be participating in this edition are- Brazil, Canada, Belgium, Netherlands, Thailand, France, Vietnam, Spain and the United Kingdom. Making a special appearance at the festival are three uniquely-shaped balloons- Dino from Brazil, Blue Bear from Canada, and Smurf from Belgium.
Another noteworthy aspect of the festival is that out of the nine countries- Netherlands’s balloon is flown by a female pilot Tryntsje Offringa. She has participated in all the previous editions of this balloon festival.
On the first day of the festival, Thaikkudam Bridge will be performing. Followed by a fusion performance by Rajhesh Vaidhya on the second day, along with Super Singer lineup featuring Nithyashree Venkataraman, Adhithya RK among others on days two and three.
Talking about what he looks forward to from the event he says, “The idea is to create an event which is one of the largest family carnivals in the country and to create a space for destination tourism. So we are looking forward to seeing how this edition is received by the people and what we can do to make it even bigger.”
Tickets are available on Tamil Nadu International Balloon Festival 2023.
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