Everyone is preparing for the big hot air balloon fest in the country, The The 16th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta will start on Feb 10-13, 2010 at the Clark Economic Zone, Angeles City. Tickets are sold at P150 and you can buy tickets in advance in TicketNet or buy the tickets there at the ticketing booth infront of the entrance of the hot air balloon fiesta.
I advice to everyone that you buy your ticket in advance because many people buy their tickets on site and if you arrived late, you might miss the departure flight of the hot air balloons.It was announced on the event website that there will be 27 colorful hot air balloons participated for this event and the whole run of the fiesta is jam packed once again with lots of activities and exhibit.
check out below the schedules, attractions and some tips
you can read back my full coverage here in my blog post last year - 15th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2010
for complete details of the event
visit : http://www.philballoonfest.net/
and check the program at http://www.philballoonfest.net/2011-programme.html
I'm targeting day 1 and day 3, here's a program guide for day 1
| FIRST FIESTA DAY | |
| Philippine Army Flag Jump | 5:00-5:45AM |
| Hot Air Balloon Flights | 5:45-7:00AM |
| RP/Malaysian/UK Paragliding Exhibition | 5:45-7:30AM |
| ACFC Ultralight/Microlight Aircraft Formation Flights & Flour Bombing | 7:30-8:30AM |
| Meynard Halili / Bill Wright Aerobatic Show | 8:30-9:00AM |
| AFP / Civilian Sky Diving Exhibition | 9:00-9:30AM |
| Radio-controlled Model Aircraft Demonstration | 9:30-10:00AM |
| AOPA-P Light Airplane Balloon Bursting Competition | 10:00-11:30AM |
| KAP/KTP Kite Flying Exhibition | 11:30-12:00NN |
| Airlink/WCC/Omni/PPA/CIA/Orient flyby | 12:00-12:30PM |
| Radio-controlled Model Aircraft Demonstration | 12:30-1:00PM |
| Sky Diving Exhibition | 1:00-1:30PM |
| Rolf Dunder 'Fascination' Airplane vs. Car Race | 1:30-2:00PM |
| AOPA-P Light Aircraft Balloon Bursting Competition | 2:00-3:00PM |
| FEATI/PHILSCA Rocketry Demonstration | 3:00-3:30PM |
| ACFC Ultralight/Microlight Aircraft Formation Flights | 3:30-4:00PM |
| Philippine Air Force Silent Drill and SPOW Bomb Sniffing Dog Exhibition | 4:00-4:30PM |
| Meynard Halili / Bill Wright Aerobatic Show | 4:30-5:00PM |
| RP/Malaysian/UK Paragliding Exhibition | 5:00-5:30PM |
| Hot Air Balloon Fly-In | 5:30-6:00PM |
If you plan to join some activities and attractions, here are the list of things you can do there, I found these info at FB and Tumblr.
Tandem Sky Diving
If you have the guts and courage to join in a tandem sky diving, you can try this and join the jump at the hot air balloon fiesta. This is an interesting activity, but I'll pass and I still don't have that adrenaline power to push myself to the limits.
Flightline Tours
They also have an organized tour for all tourist and guest of the event. They also offer a short tour near the hot air balloon. You can get the details here about the tour
Biyahe Tayo! Join the Hot Air Balloon Festival Tour Feb 12 2011
A friend is organizing a tour at the hot air balloon fiesta, if you are interested you can get the full details below
It's that great season once again when winter gives way to summer and the conditions are optimal for the festival of everything that flies!
Enjoy a day of fun and flight, and feast on local culture and cuisine at the country's biggest aviation sports event today, happening at the Clark Economic Zone in Pampanga, on Saturday, February 12, 2011.
Bus leaves exactly at 3:00 AM from RAF Mansion Hotel along Roxas Blvd in Baclaran in time for the 5:30 AM lift off. Towards midday we will escape the noontime heat by taking in some sights and culture around Angeles City, savoring local cuisine in a big Kapampangan lunch buffet and shopping for Pampanga’s best delicacies. The rest of the afternoon we will spend back in the airfield until the balloons lift off again and disappear into the sunset.
Lug your cameras for some colorful and exciting photo opportunities.
Cost per pax is P1,900.00 PRE-PAID inclusive of aircon bus, guide, entrance fees, museum visits, light breakfast, buffet lunch of Kapampangan delights, pm snack. Sign up fast. Limited seats!
For confirmation please contact Richard Burgos, 09331873095, 02-5712924, or email burgosrp2003@yahoo.com.
Check out: http://wanderlustravel.blogspot.com/2011/01/16th-hot- air-balloon-festival-feb-12. html
Festival website for news and other details: http://www.philballoonfest.net
.Click on About tab, and Event, for the day's schedule of activities.
Cosplay event and contest
Our friends at Anime Alliance Philippines is organizing the 1st cosplay event and contest at the hot air balloon festival. The cosplay scene will run each day of the fiesta. They provide free tickets to cosplayers who will join the event and contest.
For rules and mechanics, visit http://ph.animealliance.asia/2011/02/cosplay-hot-air-balloon-fiesta.html
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TIPS and GUIDE for 1st time visitor
If you plan to go there and its your first time, I like to share some tips that can be helpful for you. It was my first time last year and I learned so many things on my first trip at the hot air balloon fest and my budget for an overnight stay and 2 day coverage is P3,000, thats good for two persons. I might use this tips again for my 2nd visit.
1. Plan your travel first before you go there, it will be better that you are prepared and also you can prepare your pocket money if you plan to travel via commute or your own car.
2. If you have your own car, its easy to go there, but if you will travel riding the bus, there are lots of things that you should know.
(a) ride the bus - Victory Liner going to Dagupan
(b) drop off at the Dau Terminal
(c) walk on the other side of the highway and ride the tricycle going to SM Clark
(d) ride a jeepney that will enter Clark Economic Zone
(e) if you ride the jeep, just advice the driver in advance to drop you off at the hot air balloon event site
(f) if you got lost, dont be shy to ask the people there, people in Pampanga are nice and helpful when it comes to giving directions.
3. Bring these items if you plan to stay there for long
(a) extra shirts
(b) money
(c) sun glasses
(d) sun block
(e) back pack
(f) wear light clothes
(g) camera
(h) laptop and internet usb dongle (if you plan to blog after the event)
(i) copy of the program schedule of the event
(j) cellphone with load
(k)bottled water
(l) folding chair or travel chair
(m) umbrella
4. If you plan to stay overnight, there are lots of hotels in the area, but last time we went there we stayed in a cheap motel. I trust a clean and cheap motel. My target that time was to stay in SOGO hotel,but the motel is under construction last year, but I know they are now open, and if ever I'll stay overnight, I can check in there at night and check out at around 3am. I remember that McDonalds operates 24 hours a day, because we ate our breakfast there and stayed til 4am.
5. The hot air balloon departure flight starts at around 5am, and I advice that you should be there an hour or 2 hours before the big flight. There will be many people and visitors going there, and the viewing area will be crowded, if you want to watch the balloons in a close range, just be there early and stay infront of the perimeter fence. You can seat on the pavement or grass or use your folding chair that you brought so that you can rest before you wait for another hour for the show to start.
6. After the balloon flight, there will be other activities happening in the area, and if you plan to stroll somewhere and rest, there might be a service vehicle outside going to a mall. Last year we experience to ride for free going to Marquee Mall and back to the balloon site. I'm not sure if SM City Clark will provide the same arrangements like free transpo ride for visitors going to SM mall and back to the event site. If ever they have a free transpo, I will just ride and stay inside SM Mall and do lots of stuff like eat, watch movies or shop. And if I feel to go back to the event site, I'll just ride the tricycle or the free transpo ride. Because there will be a hot air balloon flight arrival at around 5pm before the sun sets.
7. There are lots of food stalls inside the event site, they also have an eatery with tent, tables and chairs. Souvenirs are sold from left to right. Photo op activities are also available, exhibits and get a close encounter with our soldiers and officers, try also to hold those heavy rifles, guns and bazookas, ride a mini tank and also try to sit inside a small helicopter. That was last year, I don't know what will be there gimmick for this year, but I do hope that it will be the same.
8. If you're going to ride the hot air balloon, there's a special rate and you can avail the ticket and arrangement at the official website. I heard that the price of the hot air balloon is equal to a plane ticket to Hong Kong. Its a long ride transferring to another city, I'm not sure if its a one way ride. But last year, we rode the hot air balloon and it was my first time to ride it, it was a smooth flight and a bumpy landing. The flames are not that hot when you are inside the basket, and the balloon pilot is friendly and he will instruct you on what to do during the landing. In our ride, its a short ride lifting us up for minutes and going down after wards, the organizers offer a special rate for that ride, and I don't know where to get it, I'll investigate on that for my visit on day 1 on Thursday.
9. Okay thats it for now, I will add more tips and guide when something came in to my mind, but if you have your own tips and guide, pls share it here by posting in the comments below.
Thanks and happy trip to all!
