40,000 in Trim for hot air balloon spectacle

Despite the poor weather conditions for ballooning, the Trim Hot Air Balloon Fiesta attracted thousands of visitors to the town over the bank holiday weekend, with an estimated crowd of 20,000 visiting the Porchfields on Sunday. Pilots from all over Europe, the UK and the United States descended on Trim for the special shaped hot air balloon fiesta, while visitors came from all over Ireland and even as far away as the UK for the spectacle, in a welcome boost for local businesses. Organisers said the turn out far exceeded expectations and were very happy with the turnout, particularly on Sunday. While the balloons got to fly on Thursday evening and some on Saturday morning after the fog lifted, the conditions on Monday meant the balloons could not even be tethered in the arena. On Friday afternoon, on Saturday between the gusts and throughout Sunday, the organisers managed to do static displays in the balloon arena where the giant special shaped balloons were inflated and tethered. World record balloonist Pauline Baker who was one of the chief organisers said the weather forecast predicted Sunday to be the best day with calm winds but this did not materialise and it was too winday to fly. To fly a balloon, she explained that winds need to be less than 10mph but that on Sunday morning, they were 14mph and were picking up. However, they had enough shelter to do static displays throughout the day. The Easter egg hunt was a huge hit with the children on Sunday and there were also amusements, activities and a French market to keep the crowds entertained throughout the day. On Monday the winds were gusting at 40-50mph in Dublin and Ms Baker said they could not even undertake static displays. "The number of people who came on Sunday took us all by surprise. I hope they all got to see the balloons inflated at some stage. Some of the special shaped balloons couldn't be inflated at all over the weekend because of the wind and didn't see the light of day because they needed absolute calm to be inflated. The honeybees flew a number of times and they were the star attraction holding hands and smooching." Because of the larger than anticipated crowds, there were tailbacks in the town on Sunday but Ms Baker said the aim was to put a smile on people's faces and to have a family event at Easter and they did that. "The children were playing in the field and it was amazing to see their faces when the balloons inflated," she said. The night glow spectactle was due to take place on Saturday night but was cancelled after winds were forecast, although it turned out to be quite a calm evening. "The forecast was that there were going to be winds in excess of 25mph which would be too windy to do even part of the night glow. It got quite calm at 8pm or 9pm but it was too late to call it back on again. We had a weather check line where people could check if balloons were flying or if the night glow was going ahead and most rang to find out in advance, though some people came on the night. There were also regular updates on the website, Facebook and Twitter. Trim Chamber of Commerce President Yvette Bloomfield said the event had been fantastic for the town and attracted a lot of visitors into the area. She said business was very good on Saturday and that anyone who opened on Sunday or Monday was very happy.