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A total of 40 hot air balloons from all over the world have inaugurated this Thursday with a simultaneous flight the 27th European Balloon Festival in Igualada, in Anoia.
This event that combines competition with "the playful aspect of flying and the beauty of this sport" attracts more than 25,000 spectators every year. In Las Fotos de los Lectores de La Vanguardia, one more edition, we have been present.
The balloon festival brings together teams from the United States, India, Tunisia, Dubai, Turkey, Austria, England, Luxembourg and Monaco, as well as Spanish, and is the largest in southern Europe, according to the organization.
This event will last until Sunday and will include cultural activities and sports events in which participants will compete to win the festival trophy.
In the inaugural flight, the balloons have flown over the Conca d'Òdena and the teams have competed in "the target", a test in which the participants have had to launch a "testimony" on a target located in the Pla de la Massa and that Carles Figueras from Igualadino has won.
The outstanding novelty of the morning was the presentation of the "romantic" basket Ultramagic, made locally, with two seats for passengers and one for the balloon pilot, with an access door, a lower railing than usual, two seats and a small table so that couples can have a tasting during the flight.
The basket already existed in its four-seater version, but "many couples asked to fly solo", so it was decided to offer a two-seater that has already been exported to Switzerland and that a couple from the capital has premiered today in Igualada of the Anoia.
This edition of the European Balloon Festival will have the traditional flights at 6:30 a.m. until Sunday and at 7:30 p.m. until Saturday, all from Parc Central, except the one on Friday morning, in which some balloons will leave from the Plaza de Cal Font or the Plaza del Ayuntamiento and others from the usual point.
The balloon flights and sports events will coexist during the days of the festival with food trucks, shows, concerts and "wind igloos" made from recycled balloon fabrics, installed in different central points of Igualada.
On Saturday night, which will culminate in a concert by Triquell, a former contestant on the TV3 program Eufòria, Igualada will host the Night Glow, a night-time lighting of balloons accompanied by an exhibition of a hundred drones.
The areas designated for parking in previous editions will be occupied by balloons this year as a result of the remodeling of Parc Central, so the festival organization recommends that attendees walk to the airfield.
