Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta

The fiesta bills itself as a weekend of everything that flies, and it means it: balloons share the field with skydivers, paragliders, radio-controlled aircraft and drones, and the balloon ascent is the opening act of each day rather than the whole programme. The calendar has the events that are only about balloons.

It has moved, and the move is the practical thing to know. For its first quarter century it ran at a former American airbase in one province; after a break it came back at a new site in the next province over. Listings that were written before the move still name the old one, and the two are far enough apart that arriving at the wrong one costs a day.

The competition element is real: the fiesta hosts sanctioned tasks under international sporting rules alongside the display flying, which is why the crews come from a spread of countries rather than from one club.

There is a ticket, there are tiers of ticket, and there is no published passenger flight. What the more expensive ticket buys is a better position and shade rather than a place in a basket, and the distinction is not always obvious from the booking page.

February is the dry season in central Luzon and the mornings are the still part of the day. The site is a new city built on former grassland, which means good sightlines, long walks and very little shade — the practical constraints of a purpose-built venue rather than a town.

It is the oldest aviation sports event in the country and has outlasted two venues, a change of decade and a long interruption. That durability comes from the breadth of the programme rather than from the ballooning: an event that also flies paragliders, drones and radio-controlled aircraft can survive a year when the balloon crews do not come, which a pure balloon meet cannot.