Saga, Japan joins race to host 2016 World Championship

Hot on the heels of New Mexico comes Saga, Japan in their bid to host the 2016 World Hot Air Balloon Championships.

Saga is located in western Japan on the island of Kyushu, about 1,000 kilometers west of Tokyo and is considered by some to be the ballooning capital of the Asia/Pacific.

The city has been holding hot air balloon competitions since 1980 and international competitions since 1984 including twice hosting the World Championships in 1989 and 1997.

The 1997 World Championship was highly praised, with 112 balloons from 38 different countries competing, and a total of 170 balloons participating.

There have been big changes in Saga City since the last time it hosted a World Championship. In 2005 and 2007, Saga City merged with 6 surrounding towns and one village to form a brand new Saga City. Thus the year 2016 will mark the 10th anniversary of the birth of this new city, and so the bid proposes to commemorate this special occasion by hosting the World Hot Air Balloon Championship.

Balloons are a part of life for the people of Saga. Every year pilots, officials, and observers from all over the globe, including Europe, the US and Asia participate in the Saga International Balloon Fiesta.

The people of Saga love balloons. They also love balloonists. The whole city comes alive in an effort to welcome the balloonists with parades and parties, and some citizens actually welcome them into their homes through our homestay program.

The competition venue attracts nearly 1 million visitors during the course of the event. To accommodate the large number of visitors, a temporary train station is set up at the venue. And Saga City has much to offer visitors. You can still find traditional Japanese scenery, and its abundance of tasty rice and clean water goes into making the areas prized and delicious sake. In winter, the open-air oyster bars are highly recommended.

The theme chosen for Saga’s World Championship bid is “Emotion and Smiles”.

“Together with you, we hope to stir emotions and spread smiles to people all over the world from Saga.”

Balloonteam.net will continue to report on this exciting competition between global players in their bids to host the 2016 World Hot Air Balloon Championship.

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本映像は、2016佐賀インターナショナルバルーンフェスタにて熱気球世界選手権を開­催するために作られた誘致プロモーション映像です。

［2016熱気球世界選手権誘致にむけて］
熱気球には、人々を笑顔にし、子どもたち夢を育て、人々との絆をつくる力があります。­私たちはこれまでに２回の世界選手権を含む、２９回の熱気球の国際大会を開催してきま­した。
世界中からパイロットや競技関係者、ボランティアスタッフそしてたくさんの観光客が集­まりました。私たちはもてなしの心をもって、宿泊や食事、輸送、案全対策にとりくみ、­高い評価を得ています。 
また、子どもの頃にこの大会を見に来た人が親となり、今度は自分の子供を連れて見に来­るようになりました。このような循環を繰り返し、佐賀の熱気球は時代を超えて残るもの­に育ってきました。 
ここで再び２０１６年に、熱気球の世界最大のイベントである熱気球世界選手権を、佐賀­市で開催することで、佐賀の存在感、素晴らしさを世界に伝え、そして熱気球世界選手権­がつくりだすたくさんの感動から、次の世代を担う子どもたちが、夢や希望を見出し、活­力溢れる佐賀を実現したいと考えます。