Balloons take to Wairarapa skies

ROBERT KITCHIN/The Dominion Post

ALL AGLOW: Twenty hot air balloons lit up the sky for about half an hour about six o'clock yesterday before rising winds raised safety concerns.

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Wairarapa's skies will be filled again with hot-air balloons but tough financial times mean Wellingtonians may miss out on a special performance at the Basin Reserve.

Pilots from across the country will converge on the region next week, bringing with them 18 balloons.

However, the Balloons at the Basin event, which debuted on Easter Sunday last year, is now in doubt after organisers failed to drum up enough funding.

Last year, a crowd of about 7000 watched the night glow. The man who took the event to Wellington, sculptor and balloon owner Denis Hall, said an event of that scale required financial support.

The cost of running last year's event, estimated at about $20,000 was covered by a $5000 grant by Wellington City Council and gate sales, with Mr Hall underwriting the event.

The council has this year declined to provide sponsorship, saying it has had to tighten its spending on events.

Mr Hall said though he appreciated the council's support last year and understood its financial pressures, the grounding of the event would be a loss for Wellington.

"Wellingtonians seemed to really enjoy the way the city was showcased and it is a bloody shame that the funding may not be there to do it again. It can't be done without money."

Money has also been a problem for the Wairarapa balloon fiesta, now in its 12th year.

It has been scaled down from a five-day event to a three-day show with no overseas involvement or balloons with special shapes.

Wairarapa Balloon Society chairman Bob Francis said the current economic climate meant corporate sponsorship had been much more difficult to secure but they could still continue with a modified event.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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Philip   #4   05:30 pm Mar 11 2010

So the council is Ok to chip in for that awful 'Wellywood' monstrosity (via their 34% ownership of the Airpot), but not for a genuinely beautiful spectacle such as this? - Disgusting. Kerry P - you should be ashamed.

Mike   #3   09:32 am Mar 11 2010

Anyone who saw the event in the Basin last year or the display on Oriental Bay the year before would have surely gone away amazed by the unique visual specticle and excitement of it all. Wellington is a uniquely special place in the world and these are the type of events that make it even more memorable to visitors and leave residents proud. What a loss!

bondie   #2   02:48 pm Mar 10 2010

Belt-tightening by the city council? My eye! In the overall scheme of things, $5000 from the council's annual budget is barely a drop in the ocean. If the council is as strapped as that for cash it should file for bankruptcy, which of course would never happen, so there has to be another reason. Why cannot the media report for us all the facts? Who has got offside with whom? What's really going on behind the scenes? We elect councillors. They're answerable to us. (ends)

Michelle   #1   02:14 pm Mar 10 2010

Its a shame this event is getting smaller and smaller every year. I crewed for various crews from 2000 - 2005 and it was great, all the international pilots I got to meet and all the events put on for all, including crew. When I have been back the past few years to catch up with everyone, there has been barley no international piolets and no events run during the day etc. I find it really sad. hopefully someone can put funding back in one day to make it what it was.