Special Balloons over Waikato event ends

The ZURU Nightglow was held at the FMG Stadium this year and was filmed for spectators at home. Photo / Supplied

The Balloons over Waikato team mastered the impossible - running an event in the red traffic light setting.

Not being a ticketed event nor relying on gate sales, the Balloons over Waikato team had to think outside the box to keep delivering this iconic event to the many thousands of people who love the sight of hot air balloons floating across the city.

The team says that Covid has certainly been challenging for the events industry, but they were determined that if it was possible to safely deliver Balloons over Waikato, they would do it.

Balloon pilots and their balloons from all over New Zealand attended last week's festival. With no public attendance permitted at any of the events, the pilots chose parks and launch sites making the best use of the breeze to take the balloons across different parts of the city and impact as many people as possible.

The organisers say that thousands of people engaged with the event over five days with many commenting on the joy they bring, especially in these stressful times.

As the ZURU Nightglow normally attracts around 80,000 spectators, more thinking outside the box was needed to deliver the iconic festival finale. The result was a stunning, never-before-seen show held at the FMG Stadium Waikato.

Balloons over Waikato was held without public attendance this year. Photo / Jeremy Ward, www.shot360.co.nz

The Nightglow was filmed last Friday and released online at 8pm on Saturday, the same time the ZURU Nightglow would normally have taken place.

Although the event was held without the public, event stakeholders were hosted in pods of small numbers and treated to a special night of entertainment with a Glow Show.

The result of the first of a kind Nightglow was spectacular with the online video watched by more than 20,000 on Saturday evening. If you missed the online Nightglow there is no need to worry, the video is still available on the Balloons over Waikato website at balloonsoverwaikato.co.nz.

In the past three years the event team, like most of us, had to deal with the challenges of Covid. The team held the 2020 event on the cusp of the pandemic; at last year's event they were able to enjoy a record attendance, while this year they had to run the festival in the red traffic light setting.

The Balloons over Waikato team says that in a country that was starved of the joy of being part of an event in recent months, it was wonderful to be able to bring the magic of hot air ballooning to the community for everyone to enjoy.

The balloons were still flying over Hamilton every morning. Photo / Supplied