Taunggyi Hot Air Balloon Festival Nov 2014

Taunggyi Hot Air balloon festival is a competition between different groups and villages, held over 7 days. Taunggyi is a city south of Unle Lake in Myanmar. It is a full moon festival, held once a year, and so the dates it is held varies year to year. During the afternoon, we went to onto the arena on the outskirts of town where the balloons were being air-filled and there were few enough people to dodge falling balloons, but the evening before we went two people were killed and eleven injured at night when a balloon with fireworks crashed onto spectators. No person goes up with the hot-air balloon. The crowds cheer when a balloon is successfully aloft as this might win they will win the competition. #myanmar #taunggyi #hotairballoon #fullmoonfestival #inlelake #animalballoons #hindufestival