14th Hot Air Balloon Fest

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Photo by DOT, Region III

Visit Clark and experience the fun at the festival where everything flies!!!

The Department of Tourism Region 3 is inviting everyone to visit Clark, Philippines on February 12 to 15, 2009 and witness the exciting events at the Philippine Air Force Ramp, Clark Freeport Zone (former Clark Air Base) in Pampanga.

The ballooning event is hosted by Clark Development Corporation led by its president and CEO Benigno Ricafort, Philippine Air Force, Clark International Airport Corp., and a host of private sponsors like UPS, Cirrus, ABS-CBN, among others.

Some 25 balloons including seven special-shaped ones are expected to fly the friendly skies of Clark.

The event was first organized by the Department of Tourism in 1994 during the incumbency of then Secretary Mina Gabor in the hope of uplifting the spirits of the Capampangan at the height of the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. It was then handled by Dir Tiotuico as the event organizer with the help of Sung Kee Paik, a Korean national, and John Emery of British Airways.

Since then, the ballooning never fails to attract more than a hundred thousand spectators from as far as Metro Manila and Baguio. It has since been officially recorded one of the scheduled ballooning event in the world even competing in public exposure and attention with that of Saga, Japan and Albuquerque, New Mexico.

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