Filzmoos 29th International Balloon Fiesta

Finally the 29th Annual Filzmoos Balloon Fiesta kicked of on the 12th Of January, with 40 Hot Air Balloons taking part in the small village of Filzmoos (South Salzburg, Austria). I joined Alba Ballooning for this event comprising of a team of 1 pilot and 4 crew, 1 land rover and 1 balloon.

Day One

After arriving at Salzburg airport we drove south up into the Alps to the village of Filzmoos and ’signed in’, collected our hot air balloon banner, gassed up and went to the weeks briefing in the local centre. Once the administration was complete we had a quick drink and pizza before retreating to our apartment.

Day Two

After the snow fall of the first night and a low lying cloud sadly Sunday’s flights were cancelled. So a day of skiing occurred for this young PUT (Pilot under Training). So as the snow fell and the clouds rolled over the mountains and attacked the valleys of the Alps we took to the slopes with a new fresh top layer of snow it made perfect skiing conditions for us.

Come Sunday evening the clouds had cleared, allowing the night glow to take part. This night comprised of all 40 balloons burning their burners to the sound of classical music for 45 mins in total, in the dark! During the night glow the pilots and crew would get seduced by the Austrian hospitality being given free Schnapps and hot wine. for their hard work.

Day Three

We woke the following morning (Mon 14th January) to a clear and beautiful blue sky, so after the “all clear” at the briefing we marched to the launch field with eager attitudes and inflated our Alba Balloon. A flight of 1hr 30mins took part that morning for ourselves, due to a heavy load and indecisive winds. Meanwhile however our Dutch friends flew for 3hrs!

Upon returning to Filzmoos we gassed up and went and got a hot chocolate and rum each and helped it to go down with a cake, had a sleep and then went out for the evening to the local bar ‘Kennedys’, where we enjoyed the local hospitality and met up with our Dutch and Swedish friends.

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