The Irish Hot Air Ballooning Championship was held in Waterford over the week ending on 26/9/14.

– from the championship website:

“The Irish Hot Air Ballooning Championship is usually referred to as ‘The Irish Meet’. It is the longest running National ballooning event in the world. The first event was held in 1971 at Newcastle House in Ballymahon, Co Longford and was attended by a handful of balloons. The event now attracts over 40 balloons and has been held in Boyle, Co Roscommon; Kilkenny; Waterford; Athlone; Trim, Co Meath; Kells Co. Meath, Killenkere, Co Cavan and Drumshambo Co. Leitrim.

Balloonists from UK, USA, France, Holland, Belgium, Chile and Ireland are regular attendees to the event which is an invitation only event. The event, the biggest of its kind in Ireland, is a huge spectacle with these huge ancient aircraft flying totally dependant on the wind for direction.

This year these balloonists will spend the last week in September in the City of Waterford to celebrate the City’s 1100 birthday. The Championships were last held in Waterford in 2009 and were a huge success as they were in 2008.
The Woodlands Hotel in the City will be the headquarters for the event with the teams staying in the hotel and various hotels close by. Woodlands will be one of the launch locations which happen every morning and evening subject to flyable conditions. Other locations for Launching being considered are , The People Park, Pilltown, Carriganore and Carrolls Cross.

In addition to the launches, the balloonists provide a spectacular Night Glow where they inflate at night to the sound of music which, in 2008 and 2009 attracted huge crowds to the Quay”.

With balloon activities very much weather-dependent, decisions on flights and launch sites were, typically, last-minute so getting to photograph an actual flight was always going to be difficult for anyone travelling a distance. However, the Night Glow was a more promising prospect as that would be held on the quayside in Waterford. The initial Glow, planned for Tuesday night, was cancelled due to gusting winds but was rescheduled for Friday night at 8.30pm and, following confirmation at the afternoon briefing on the same day that the event would go ahead, we decided to head to Waterford to capture the event.

Arriving at around 7.30pm, we took up a spot on the quayside across the river Suir from where the Glow would take place. A large crowd started to gather in anticipation and at around 9pm the Glow began, providing a visual fest as gas burners were turned on and off, lighting up the balloons in sync with music. With reflections coming off the river, and the Glow taking place in extremely low light, the scene was beautiful but definitely a photographic challenge. High ISO and the fastest aperture were the way to go and, since there was not a puff of air, there was little or no movement in the balloons which, thankfully, was one less dynamic to have to think about.

All in all, a different but enjoyable event and definitely worth the effort. Well done to all involved.

After you’ve watched the short video above, mouse over the image below to activate the slide show. Enjoy!

[slideshow_deploy id=’5398′]