“SAGA INTERNATIONAL BALLOON FIESTA”

IT IS UP TO YOUR LUCK TO SEE OVER 100 BALLOONS GOING UP TO THE AUTUMN SKY IN SAGA.

Features

☆ Participated over 100 balloons from worldwide.

☆ Two competitions are held in a day.
💡 Starting from 7:00 and 15:00

☆ Greatly affected by the weather/wind.
💡 The cancellation rates are very high.
💡 More chance on the morning.

☆ Held around the beginning of November.

☆ Free of charge.

☆ Many food stands & the local market.

☆ The character shaped balloons.

My Recommendation

Time:

The morning competition from 7:00
– decided if held or not 30 min. before with the announcement.

💡 The weather condition is more stable in the morning.

Place to take off

From the Launch Area all at once.
💡 Recommend to arrive before staring.

Place to watch

The OPPOSITE RIVER SIDE of the Launch Area.

💡 Reflections are beautiful on the surface of the river.

💡 Must go around to across the bridge to get there.

About 2.5 Km (around 30 min. by walking)
from JR Balloon Saga Station.

Eating

BBQ Shop (Yakiniku Corner)

💡 Meats, vegetables, and drinks are available for purchase.
💡 The tables are set for BBQ use.

The Famous “Saga Beef”

“Vegetables”

How to get there

By Train

The closest station: JR. Balloon Saga Station

💡 Temporary Station only for this event.

To the Launch Area,
5 min. by waling from the station.

By Car

Parking Space is available.

Parking Fee: JPY 1000

Hotel Information

There are many budget hotels around JR Saga Station.

It takes about 10 min. by train to the JR Balloon Saga Station.

References

The official website of Saga International Balloon Fiesta.
http://www.sibf.jp/en/

All pictures are taken by mie.

All are as of 2018.

From my point of view 🙂

Saga International Balloon Fiesta is held for 5 days. However, it is totally up to the weather especially the winds. Even with the clear sky, the winds would be the enough reason for the cancellations of the competition flight. So, I’ve heard that it is up to my luck to see this event. This time, I booked a hotel for a night to increase my chances. Yes, it worked.

I arrived JR Balloon Saga Station around 6:00 a.m. Already, people were there for taking their places. It is perfectly fine to see from the Launch side but I wanted to see the reflection. I started to walk towards the opposite side of the river. It is quite a long walk to get to the bridge and going around to the opposite side without the confirmation of the flight. Around 6:30 a.m., the announcement was made that “Taking off all at once from the Launch area for this morning competition.” Yes!! All conditions I wanted were met.

Around 7:00 a.m, it happened all at once. The time went by so fast to watch inflating and taking off about 100 balloons to the morning sky. I thought I spent all my luck to see this moment but worth.