Pigs fly when Jordan Cox is in the basket
Hot air balloon enthusiasts can enjoy some Chris P Bacon in the air when Balloons over Waikato launches this morning.
The hot air balloon fiesta has two special shapes this year, Farmer Pig and Baby Polar Bear.
Jordan Cox has brought Chris P Bacon with him from Indiana, USA for the five-day event, having been a toddler when he first found his love of the sport.
"Hot air ballooning for me started at the age of two and a half, my family crewed for a local pilot in Indiana, and I told my parents I was going to be a hot air balloon pilot one day.“His interest remained to the extent he asked for a fan for this third birthday.
“I could use to inflate a sheet and act like I was playing in a hot balloon. Then I was 5, I got some constructs and a little remote control truck and I made a basket and then I did tethers with my sister’s Barbie dolls.”
The 35-year-old firefighter paramedic got his first balloon at the end of 2014, and then his private licence in 2015, and commercial licence in 2017.
“I then started flying a scarecrow and a one eyed monster in 2018. I flew that for a couple of years and then I bought my shape, the farmer pig in 2020.” Cox is living his biggest dream since he was three.
“It’s just such a peaceful experience up there. You get to see so many cool things from the air.
“And, also just the experience I've had with travelling, places like here in New Zealand, Mexico all over the US.”
This will be the first time Cox will fly in Balloons over Waikato and is looking forward to seeing people experience the flying pig.
“It's fun to fly and it's always fun to see people's faces when they see a big pig in the air. One of the funniest ones was, the police department in Albuquerque said it was their favourite.” The balloons will go up from Innes Common every morning, but there will be balloons popping up at other locations.
People will be able to walk through a balloon envelope on Thursday at Garden Place from 4pm to 7pm for a gold coin donation which will to to True Colours Children’s Health Trust.
On Friday evening at The Base from 6pm there’s the Base Basket Burn to live music, or there will be balloons at Mighty River Domain, Lake Karapiro, from 5pm – 8pm.
Saturday night is the ZURU Nightglow at Claudelands, the tickets which are free have been allocated, although there’s a waitlist on Ticketek. There is a Lodge Lost kids bracelet for children at the nightglow, which can be collected at Innes Common during the week or at Claudelands on Saturday.
Parents can write a phone number on the bracelet and put it on a child’s wrist, so if you part ways, you can be contacted by the lost kids team.