Balloons set to take to the skies in Tullamore
The Irish Ballooning Association has selected three sites around Tullamore for the prestigious Irish Hot Air Ballooning Championships which will see the skies over the Offaly capital light up in a riot of colour for a week in September.
A spokesperson for the association confirmed to the Offaly Independent this week that three launch sites are currently being examined, including a site which is in close proximity to the town centre.
The Irish Hot Air Ballooning Championships will take place from Saturday, September 23 to Friday, September 29, and among the three launch sites is Butterfield Estate, which played host to over 60,000 people at the annual Tullamore Show last weekend.
It is also expected that a site in the vicinity of Charleville Castle will be used as a launch pad for the hot air balloons, and Frank Meldon from the Hot Air Ballooning Association said a “town-based location” is also being examined at the moment in order to assess its suitability as a launch pad.
“We would be hoping to involve as many local people as possible over the week of the championships, so a town-based location would be ideal for them to come and see the hot air balloons taking off,” he said. Weather permitting, Mr Meldon said the first flights will take place on the evening of Saturday, September 23, with further flights taking place both morning and evening for the duration of the novel event.
The championships are described as a “fun social event”.
The event is for everyone’s enjoyment, but the organisers have stressed that it will not be possible to provide flights for members of the public during the week-long event.
“We would strongly encourage members of the public to come out to see the skies being lit up with the wonderful spectacle of colourful hot air balloons and don’t forget to bring your camera or mobile phone to record everything,” urged Frank Meldon.
The Irish Hot Air Ballooning Championships are being jointly sponsored by Offaly County Council and Tullamore Credit Union and an information and promotional evening took place on Wednesday of this week on the green area in front of the Tullamore Dew Distillery facility.
Hot air ballooning is 100% weather dependent, and the organisers of next month’s Irish Championships say they will be unable to confirm whether a flight can go ahead on any given day until they have obtained a full meteorological forecast.