Hot air balloon fest set in Clark on February 9-12

CLARK FREEPORT — Asia’s longest-running sports aviation event, the Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta (PIHABF) is set on February 9 to 12 next year.

“Over Two Decades of Flying High”. This will be the theme of grandest balloon festival which will be held inside this Freeport.

The four-day festival, which started 21 years ago, will gather aviators and spectators from around the world with non-stop flying action.

Activities include hot air balloon flying, aircraft aerobatic exhibitions and formation flying, radio-controlled aircraft flying, paragliding, skydiving, and several ground activities during the “weekend of everything that flies.”

As early as October this year, the Clark Development Corporation and the PIHAB Foundation, has made necessary preparations to make the 2017 Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta (PIHABF) successful.

Clark officials are expecting moe than 50,000 visitors during the festival which made Clark “Tourism Destination of the Year” in 2015. The hot air balloon fiesta is a flagship project of CDC for Clark, the local communities and the whole country.

The Department of Tourism (DOT) launched the PIHBF in Clark in 1993, two years after the devastation brought about by the eruptions of Mount Pinatubo.

CDC expressed gratitude to the balloonists, sponsors, partner agencies and companies, the Philippine Air Force, the local communities, local traders, the media and the visitors for supporting the tourism related project.