I miss seeing the balloons featured in your recent ADN story! My husband and I celebrated a wedding anniversary in the 1980s with a hot air balloon ride over Midtown that was quite fun.
The Anchorage tourism industry should consider the potential for increased business by promoting an annual hot air balloon festival. In 2019, we attended one held annually over two weekends in January in the Alpine village of Château-d’Oex, Switzerland. It attracts thousands of visitors and hundreds of balloon pilots from some 20 countries.
Not only can you see colorful and specially-shaped balloons, you can enjoy great food and drink too. They set up a special children’s day in which young enthusiasts are treated to short flights. The link between Château-d’Oex and hot air balloons is a historical one. In 1999, the Breitling Orbiter, piloted by Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones, left from this village for the first unassisted tour of the world in a hot air balloon. We were pleased to meet Piccard during the festival, and he could be convinced to come to a similar Alaska event!
— Tam Agosti-Gisler
Anchorage
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