The 43rd annual hot air balloon festival in Château-d’Oex began on Saturday, after being postponed twice because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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The first day met with strong wind, however, and many of the balloon flights had to be cancelled.
“Given that you can’t steer a balloon, we are completely dependent on the weather, and especially the wind,” pilot Xavier Feal told news agency Keystone-SDA.
The 40-year-old international festival in the ski resort of canton Vaud is the biggest of its kind in the Alps and traditionally provides a tourism boost for the region. This year’s editionExternal link runs until January 29. Some 70 hot air balloons from 15 countries are expected to take part.
The colourful festival includes night shows, balloon flights, sporting competitions and a children’s day, according to the organisers.
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Hundreds of hot air balloons glide over Swiss Alps
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Saturday marked the start of the 40th International Hot Air Balloon Festival in the skiing resort of Chateau d’Oex in western Switzerland.
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Hot air balloon festival commemorates round-the-world flight
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The first circumnavigation of the globe in a hot air balloon was achieved by Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard and co-pilot Brian Jones in March 1999 when they touched down in Egypt following a 21-day flight. Seventeen years later, Piccard went on to repeat the feat in a solar powered aircraft called Solar Impulse that was…
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The two-week project launched by the hot-air balloon company Balloon Team in Lugano, canton Ticino, consists in using an aerostat to fly over the Tanzanian volcano, where the scientists will study aerosols, small particles, and their effect on climate and health. It is the first time that this type of research is being carried out…
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