A huge crowd assembled to watch the eerie glow of hot air balloons fill up the skies of New Zealand at the Lift Off Levin balloon festival, which was held on Easter Sunday.
With hot air balloon rides in South Wales, Scotland, and New Zealand increasingly proving popular, it was no surprise that over a thousand people turned up to the event.
The festival, which was held at the Levin Domain in the Manawatu-Wanganui region of the country, kicked off at 6.30pm. The gathered crowd watched 10 hot air balloons slowly fill up and take shape, before lighting up and gliding into the night sky. The effect of the balloons was said to have been made even better by the fact that all of the lights at the Domain had been switched off, leaving the crafts’ glow as the only source of illumination.
There was even a band, Gravel Trax, on hand to play a selection of Pink Floyd hits as the glowing balloons filled the night sky.
Speaking about the event to the Manawatu Standard, the event’s organiser, Denis Hall, commented:
“I’m absolutely amazed at the number of people who have turned up given it was a rain day. It’s a very exciting thing to do anyway, I love it. I’m gobsmacked. I’m always amazed at what the public reaction is and this is an astonishing reaction.”
The event had been organised for the Saturday night, but was moved to Easter Sunday due to bad weather conditions at the time.
