Grand Est Mondial Air Ballons Featured in
Grand Est Mondial Air Ballons is a massive hot air ballooning event held every two years in northeastern France. The festival takes place every other July for ten days. The main highlights include the daily ascension of hundreds of hot air balloons, picturesque nightglows, flying competitions, and balloon demonstrations. Grand Est Mondial Air Ballons also offers carnival rides, workshops, aircraft displays, market stalls, and live music.
Grand Est Mondial Air Ballons attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to the Lorraine Regional Nature Park in the Grand Est region. The program includes dozens of sports, cultural and aeronautical events. The main crowd pleasers are mass ascents at sunrise and sunset, when hundreds of hot air balloons launch at once. The public can also watch balloons being set up and inflated.
La Grande Ligne (The Grand Line) is another attraction during the festival. Balloonists form lines and take off in a coordinated way. In 2017, 456 balloons were launched at once, setting a world record. The Grande Ligne event is usually held on a Saturday or Sunday morning, one time during the festival.
Night Glow (Ligne de Nuit) is the time when pilots inflate their hot air balloons after dark. Tethered to the ground, balloons form a line and look like giant lanterns. Usually, Night Glow is held during the weekend, after the evening ascent.
