ipaimpress.co m http://ipaimpress.com/fib2014/

Châte au-d ’Oe x(c) Do miniq ue Schre ckling

Castle o f Gruyè re(c) Fe stival Inte rnatio nal d e Ballo ns – Marc Bro d art

36th International Balloon Festival of Château-d’Oex alreadyhistory

Final press releaseChâteau-d’Oex, February 2, 2014

The 36th International Balloon Festival took place from January 25 through February2nd, 2014. It came to an end on an immaculate white day, due to snowfall. More than18,000 delighted spectators attended the Festival this year in a friendly ambiance,with good weather during the week. TheFestival’s organizers are satisfied, in spite ofunreliable weather that thwarted the weekendprograms.

This year, no less than 80 pilots f rom 15 dif f erentcountries enchanted f estival-goers, who came toChâteau-d’Oex f or this extraordinary aerial show.On the f irst weekend, during which opening daywas bright and sunny, 10,000 people came toChâteau-d’Oex. As always, Children’s Day onWednesday was a huge hit, with nearly 450 childrenenjoying a moored balloon f light. Nearly 3,000people were present f or the occasion. On theother days, the Festival welcomed more than 5,000spectators. And so in all, the 2014 Festivalattracted 18,000 visitors. The weather wasespecially f ine on the weekdays, as it was onopening day as well. The organisers are verysatisf ied with the enthusiasm of the public on theweekdays of the Festival.

(c) Ale xis Anti l le

Ballo o n o ve r targ e t(c) Do miniq ue Schre ckling

(c) Pays-d ’Enhaut To urisme

the Parmigiani Balloon, was the f irst to succeed inslipping his ring onto the pole. The second pilot tomanage this f eat was Charles Gourmet, a Belgianpilot and a regular at the International BalloonFestival.

2014 was a great year in terms of f lights. Theballoons took to the skies on 5 of the Festival’s 9days. Indeed, the pilots clocked up more than 620f light hours during the week. Thanks to exceptionalweather conditions on Friday, the hot-air balloonpilots were able to f ly at an alt itude of 4,000 m(13’000 f t), and the most daring even went as f aras the region of Fribourg and Bern.

The air shows perf ormed by Jérôme Cusin in hisaerobatic aircraf t and Géraldine Fasnacht in herwingsuit, together with the demonstrations byparaglider pilots and skydivers, were also huge hitswith the spectators. The balloon release andvarious f un events of f ered during the children’saf ternoon delighted young and old alike.

The organizers of the International BalloonFestival would like to thank everyone who attendedand all those who worked so hard to make asuccess of this event. The Festival looks f orwardto seeing everyone again in Château-d’Oex nextyear, f rom January 24 to February 1st, 2015. NightGlow is scheduled f or Saturday, January 31!