In association with "Viva in the Air" Hot Air Balloon Weddings
If you wish to go directly to the balloon weddings please click here
The press and media balloon launch on 5th March is here
A good coverage of both events was published in the "Chiang Mai Mail" which you can access here
A separate web site with other details including the balloon pilots who flew into Thailand for the occasion is here
PREAMBLE
Two major events took place in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand from 7th-9th March 2008, combining a group wedding aboard hot air balloons, and the city's first international festival. Both took place at the Lanna Polytechnical College, close to the city centre.
The weddings, officially named the "KTC Master Card Viva in the Air 2008" happened just after dawn on Saturday 8th March when one by one, 14 impressive hot air balloons lifted the couples into the sky. Nine were Thai. Five others represented Austria, France, India, Japan, and Taiwan. The flight lasted about an hour, and all 14 balloons landed softly and safely in rural areas south of the city. Large numbers of press and television cameras were present to record the event, as well as representatives from "Ripley's Believe it or Not"
The balloon weddings were organised jointly with the "Chiang Mai International Heritage Festival" a three-day event featuring booths and ethnic food stalls from over 20 different countries, many of them created by members of Chiang Mai's foreign community. There were marching bands, aerial displays and landings by Microlight aircraft; non-stop entertainment performed by both amateurs and professionals on two separate stages, fireworks and stunning "balloon glows" synchronised with music coming from the main stage.
The two events, which are now scheduled to become annual attractions, were sponsored by Krungthai Bank, MasterCard, Centara Duangtawan Hotel, Mandarin Dhara Dhevi Hotel and Samsung Electronics (Thailand) with support from the Tourism Authority of Thailand and Chiang Mai provincial administration. This web site tells the story of how the festival happened, and carries images of both the festival and the balloon weddings. So, please sit back and enjoy the proceedings. Comments are welcome, please contact us
An International Festival for Chiang Mai?
Many people said it could not be done. They referred to previous attempts over the years - the committees that had been set up, the meetings held, the talk and the hype, which they reminded everybody, had all come to nothing.
Enter now the maverick hot air balloon pilot Yut Wanichanond of the company Earth Wind and Fire Ltd., a man with a vision - and a determination - to make it a reality.
Yut Wanichanond
His idea was to create a fledgling international festival against a sensational backdrop of exotic weddings taking place aboard hot air balloons - literally "Love is in the Air" Two major events therefore, requiring huge amounts of planning & logistics, which one might think would take a year or two. Not for Khun Yut and his wife Aom, who first hatched the idea in November 2007, and confidently set the date for 14th February - Valentine's Day - 2008. That left only about 10 weeks to confirm sponsors, identify a venue, arrange the transport of balloons and pilots from overseas, select the wedding couples, and somehow create an 'instant' international festival - all this on top of the thousands of associated and complicated tasks. Understandably, some skeptics scoffed at the idea.
Thanks to KTC Bank, MasterCard and several other supporters, plans went ahead, the venue was confirmed at Ratchaphruek (the site of the 2006 Royal Flora horticultural show) and members of the the foreign community were invited to become 'founders' of the first-ever international festival.
The Festival's objectives were set out as follows:
-Showcase Chiang Mai as a vibrant cosmopolitan city to domestic and international markets in a positive, creative and attractive fashion.
-Engender community goodwill.
-Foster amicable and warm understanding between nations
-Share cultural values and traditions in a pleasing and festive ambiance.
-Attract overseas and local visitors.
-Gain domestic and international media attention.
-Increase trade.
-Create a wonderful local festival which will become an annual event.
Despite the tight schedule, all seemed to go well, until the sad death of a beloved member of the Thai Royal Family, which plunged the nation into a period of mourning.