Balloon Festival @ Waterford Fringe

There is a feast of colour planned for the skies over Waterford this coming September when the Irish National Hot Air Ballooning Championships return to the city. Many will remember the spectacle during the last week of September in 2001 when some 34 balloons were flying over the city from the peoples park or Smarts castle in south Kilkennny. 

Well, it has been confirmed that the Irish Ballooning Association have granted the opportunity to Waterford to host this International event in 2008 and if successful also in 2009. The Waterford City Council have agreed with South East Tourism to provide substantial funding to help stage  the event in Waterford and to welcome balloonists from America, Holland, Italy,England, Scotland Wales and of course Ireland. It is anticipated that the total number of balloons attending the Festival and championships will be 40.

The Irish national Hot Air Ballooning Championships is the longest running National Hot Air Ballooning Championships in the World. It is an invitation only event and by its very exclusivity has become a calendar item for ballooning enthusiasts across Europe

The Championships will be run and organized by Joe Daly as Director and responsible for the aviation aspects of running this event to the highest standards and Oliver Lupton and Assistant Director and Event Administrator.

Joe Daly has been flying his own very colourful Hot Air Balloon over Waterford and South Kilkenny for a number of years now and has become well known to many members of the farming community, especially in South Kilkenny where many an early morning and late evening landing has presented a special surprise to the local residents and brought joy to many children who become almost mesmerized by the size and colour of the balloon.

Oliver was organizer for the Championships in Waterford in 2001 having previously been involved in two other championships held in Birr County Offaly, home county to our new Taoiseach, in 1999 and 2000.

Both Joe and Oliver are founding members of the Waterford Ballooning Club which has been operating now for  4 years and has a small membership of enthusiastic crew who brave the very early mornings to assist with launching and retrieveing the balloon which can only travel with the wind and must be collected and brought back by road!!) someone has to do it !!!!![contact:Joe 087-9300700 ; Oliver 086-8371777]