Written by Administrator II
Thursday, 29 January 2015
Date: 21 & 22 Feb 2015
Venue: Padang Polo, Penang
Float above the Padang Polo in Penang on a hot air balloon to glimpse at George Town World Heritage Site from a different angle on 21and 22 Feb 2015. There will be endless celebrations during the ‘Fabulous February Fiesta’ in Penang as we kick off the ‘Year of Festivals’ in conjunction with Visit Penang Year 2015 (VPY2015). Brought to your doorstep and organised for the first time, the Penang Hot Air Balloon Fiesta will be the main highlight to kick start VPY2015.
The RM650,000 event, sponsored by the state, will give visitors an opportunity to have a one-of-a-kind experience. There will be 15 hot air balloons over a 2-day festival and this event is open to all ages from 6am to 9pm at Padang Polo (Polo Ground) with balloon set-up at 7am and free-flying balloon shows that will awe you starting at 7.30am. The free-flying balloons will fly from Youth Park on both days.
On both days, three tethered balloons are open for rides to the public at RM25 per person while a cold inflation balloon at RM5 per person will allow everyone to walk into the hot air balloon interior for photo opportunities. What to watch out for are the three special-shaped balloons that will amaze you to no end: Trump, Darth Vader and Humpty Dumpty.
Besides the impressive hot air balloons, there will be family-friendly activities such as fun inflatable playgrounds, creative workshops, archery, photography competition, paramotor performance, remote plane/helicopter and more.
If that’s not active enough, there’s even a fun run on 21 Feb (Saturday) at 7am from Padang Polo to Youth Park. Registration for this fun run is RM28 and get onto mypenang.gov.my/hab to get to the registration link plus details on the run.
For ease of parking during the event days, shuttle buses will be provided by the state from three different points on the island to Padang Polo. Locations and bus schedule as below:
$1A. Jetty – Komtar – Padang Polo / Padang Polo – Komtar – Jetty
Stop point: Rapid Penang Terminal (Jetty), Komtar & Padang Polo (at Sepoy Line)
Operation hour: 7am – 10pm
Frequency: every 30min – 60min
Number of buses: 3
$1B. Tesco TanjungTokong – Padang Polo
Stop point: Jalan Sri Tanjung Pinang (near TESCO) & Padang Polo (at Sepoy Line)
Operation hour: 7am – 10pm
Frequency: every 45min – 60min
Number of buses: 2
$1C. Queensbay Mall – Padang Polo
Stop point: Sg Nibong Bus Terminal – Bus Stand Queensbay Mall – Padang Polo (at Sepoy Line)
Operation hour: 7am – 10pm
Frequency: every 60min
Number of buses: 2
The Penang Hot Air Balloon Fiesta is supported by the Penang State Government with the cooperation of the Municipal Council of Penang Island (MPPP) and Penang Global Tourism, and in collaboration with Tourism Malaysia. This event’s programming partners are AKA balloon Sdn Bhd, Today Lifestyle Marketing and ActifeStyle. Its official radio station is Fly FM.
For event updates and the hot air balloonists’ profiles, please log on to mypenang.gov.my/hab and #mypenanghab for live updates plus photos.
