Gelyka Dumaraos
6th Lubao International Balloon and Music Festival
Despite the rising summer heat, the Lubao International Balloon and Music Festival still lived up to be one of the most anticipated events in Pampanga as it once again painted the skies of Lubao with colorful hot air balloons and brought music artists for its thousands of crowd.
Now on its 6th year, the balloon and music festival gathered spectators from Manila and different neighboring provinces such as Bataan, Bulacan, and Tarlac for the three-day event last April 5-7.
While the festival has always featured international balloons and musicians, organizers of the event still inject something new each year with surprisingly cool balloons, activities, and jampacked lists of artists.
Here’s what we loved about the recent Lubao International Balloon and Music Festival 2019:
Hot air balloons
As the festival’s main attraction, #lubaoibmf brought 31 hot air balloons from different countries, 10 of which are special shaped.
Although not everyone could ride balloons due to limited slots, watching the colorful giant balloons take flight in the skies of Lubao was a sight to see. In the course of the three-day event, Lubao was blessed with favorable weather condition, which let balloons fly within Lubao.
The festival’s location, which is at Pradera Verde, Prado Siongco, is known to have the box wind, or an open area where the wind just circulates within the area and lets balloons come down to where it lifts off. It is also fitting to hold the festival at the Pradera Verde Golf and Country Club where it can accommodate a large crowd and a flying area for the balloons.
A number of the balloons deviated from the usual and featured special shapes like Christ the Redeemer, Olaf the Clown, and Bobo the Lobster just to name a few.
Fun activities
During mid-day, attendees beat the summer heat with fun on-ground and aerial activities such as Ultralight, off-road and rallycross, car show, motoparagliding, Zoocobia, motocross, outdoor zoo, inflatables, carnival rides, and game booths. Some, however, chose to take advantage of the windy weather and flew kites across the fields of Pradera Verde.
Local artists
Aside from the balloons during the day flight and night glow, the festival drew crowd for its jampacked local artists lineup.
The artist lineup consisted of crowd favorites such as Al James, This Band, Juan Karlos, I Belong to the Zoo, Ben & Ben, Shanti Dope, December Avenue, and Gloc-9. Also watch out for the country’s top artists Moira, Bamboo, and Apl.De.Ap along with Jessica Reynoso.
Apart from them, #lubaoimbf2019 also featured special guest Vice Ganda. On its third day alone, the festival gathered a massive 50, 000 attendees, breaking its previous festival records. Each night capped off with the hot air balloon night glow and fireworks.
As the #lubaoimbf2019 ended, it looks forward to future successful festivals as it promotes Pampanga as a top destination for hot air balloon.
Check out our complete list of recommended Hotels in Lubao, Pampanga via Agoda or you may also see available Airbnb properties in the city.
Also see: Appreciating Backstories: Kuraldal Festival in Sasmuan, Pampanga
