SƠN LA — Visitors to Mộc Châu District in northern province of Sơn La can view the beautiful highland from above on air balloons during the International Air Balloon Festival 2016.

The festival will be held on September 1-4.

“The festival aims to introduce and promote a new and modern tourism product of the district, and thereby enhance the tourism attraction of the highland to both domestic and international friends”, Nguyễn Thị Hoa, vice chairman of Mộc Châu District’s People’s Committee, said.

“The event is also expected to promote agricultural products of Mộc Châu Highland,” she added.

Jointly held by the local People’s Committee and the Ballooning Media Company, the festival will kick off by viewing the sunrise on the air balloons. Three air balloons flying stably, two air balloons flying freely, four mini air balloons and one airship will be part of the event.

The air balloons that fly stably will take off from the central square in the district, which is located in subzone 14. The air balloons that fly freely will also lift off from the same spot and land at Nông Trường Mộc Châu Town. The entrance fee for the festival is VNĐ30,000 (US$1.4) per person, the fee to get on the air balloons flying stably is VNĐ150,000 ($6.8), while that to get on the air balloons flying freely is VNĐ6.5 million ($296) per person. Flying time is between 40 and 60 minutes.

The pilots of the air balloons are from Taiwan, Thailand, Holland, India and Việt Nam. A team of 15 staff members has also been trained to serve the flights.

The highlight of the event is Vietjet Airlines’ air balloon. Some 25m in height, 18m in width and a flight distance of 5km, the air balloon can reach a height of 150m and will represent Việt Nam at upcoming international festivals in 2017.

The second part of the festival is The Night of Light of the Air Balloons programme, which includes the We Feel the Beat musical night with the participation of many renowned singers, musical and comedy bands, in addition to community dancing and a fire phoenix performance. – VNS