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“Night- Glow” Spettacolo in notturna

On Sunday 28th. July a spectacular “Night- Glow” will be held at 20.30  with the participation of ALL the balloon teams attending the Italian International Balloon Grand Prix 2024.
The “Night-Glow” will be held as the Italian record-breaking attempt of the most number of hot-air balloons inflated together in one single location on Italian territory.


Domenica 28 luglio si terrà alle ore 20.30 una spettacolare “Night- Glow” con la partecipazione di TUTTI i team di mongolfiere presenti al “Italian International Balloon Grand Prix 2024”.
La “Night-Glow” sarà il tentativo di battere il record italiano del maggior numero di mongolfiere gonfiate insieme in un unico luogo sul territorio Italiano..
Le mongolfiere saranno gonfiate al tramonto e si trasformeranno in gigantesche “Lucciole” con l’effetto delle fiamme all’interno delle mongolfiere creando uno spettacolo suggestivo e singolare mai visto in Italia.
“Night- Glow” Spettacolo in notturna

Gualdo Cattaneo and the Sagrantino Valley Area

A number of beautiful characteristic medieval towns, perched on small hills over-looking their respective vallies are found in the middle of Italy’s central region of Umbria commonly known as the “Green Heart of Italy”, are proud to stage the 36th. edition of the Italian International Balloon Grand Prix after having staged the “Sagrantino Cup” for the past 10 years with the participation of circa 100 hot air balloons arriving from all over the world.



The Event

The event celebrate’s it’s 36th. year anniversary with this 2024 edition, having strenghtened during this time the general belief of being a truly “relaxed ballooning vacation” second to none on the international ballooning calendar.

Because it is anticipated that a relatively high number of participating teams (circa 100)  will want to attend in July 2024, the organisation has chosen to keep all balloons in a single area using ONLY the SAGRANTINO WINE VALLEY, allowing all teams to take full advantage of  everything this area offers  with all the characteristic neighbouring towns and wineries which can be easily    visited   ………………Or allowing them all day to visit them or simply rest in the beautiful umbrian countryside beside their accommodation’s swimming pool.

ENVELOPE REPAIR CENTRE

It is with great pleasure that we are able to announce that this year the event is proud to have the  collaboration and the presence of the world’s most Prestigious balloon manufacturer Cameron Balloons  who will operate the balloon and envelope repair centre and the whom we are most grateful and honoured!!


 

Dear Ralph,
The Bennett Balloon team has now arrived safely back in the UK having had a fantastic time at the II° Sagrantino meet.
Thanks from all of us for all the hard work put in behind the scenes to produce such a great event. We loved the flying, the events you laid on, finding new restaurants and meeting new friends.
Thanks again for everything, we had a wonderful time.
Yours,  Peter Dowlen. (England)

 

Hi Ralph, just to say how much we enjoyed the balloon meet. Great pilot packs with wine and the really lovely framed fabric. We thought the organisation was great with so much to do in the evenings. You should be very proud of what you have achieved. Well done to you. Very best wishes, Geoff Down. (England)

 

Hi Ralph,
Many thanks for the wonderful vacation we had in Italy. It was a great experience, we made some fantastic flights, the food and wine were excellent!
I don’t know if it will be next year but we certainly come back!
Geert Ivens (Belgium)

 

Dear Ralph,
We like to thank you very much for all your work you have done for this (again) great event. We enjoyed ballooning and holiday in combination, had some nice flights, sights in nearby towns and some very relaxing hours just enjoying sunshine, pool and a good glass of wine or beer. As always, we have no fixed plans for every following year, but we’ll come back, sooner or little latter!
Dominik Haggeney (Germany)

 

Thanks Ralph for a great event and all your hard work putting it together especially this year Looking forward to next year Team 42 Chris and Louise
Chris Williamson (England)

 

Hello Ralph,
We had a very good and relax drive back home. Ralph, this year it was really TOP!!
We were 9 days there, we had 9 flights….70 balloons…3 launch fields.. wine tastings…dinners…fantastic!!
We, Alda, my crew and myself like to THANK YOU so much for all your efforts….. It was really great!!.
Harry Vos. (Belgium)

Dear Ralph, As always we had a terrific time in Umbria at your event. Great flights, good company, wonderful Italy, delicious food and wine – what more can you ask for!!! We would like to thank you and everyone who made this happen and contributed (especially the people from La Veneranda, San Terenziano and Bar Cleri) for all your/their efforts to make this all possible. We will be on our way home to Germany tomorrow and are looking forward to seeing you all again next year. Take care and all the best Team 39 (Uwe, Dagmar, Rainer, Gaby and Georg)
Uwe Ehrenfeld (Germany)

 

Hello Ralph,
I want to thank you for the welcome we received in Italy. We had a pleasant stay in Umbria. This is a beautiful area where landscapes, wine, food and people delighted us.
Best regards, Jean-Pierre Clergeau (France)

Dear Ralph,

It’s unbelievable again how you set up an event with 90 balloons during this difficult time. For that we give you the utmost respect. Full of power for everyone every day. Thanks very much! I don’t think there is a comparable event in Europe this year.. This year everything was again very good and well organized. Starting places, refueling, social program points were very good and nice. We always look forward to the evening at Roberto’s. I think the whole procedure for the notam also worked very well and everyone was very disciplined. you can see it works without a military sound :-). Of course, there were always small problems in some places, but she forgets them again at a nice event! We are definitely looking forward to next year and hope we can come to Todi for many more years to come
Many greetings from Munich

Andy

Mit freundlichen Grüßen Andreas Baus

 

Hi Ralph, thank you  very much for this year’s event, its been totally relaxing.Your event has always been an intimate balloon meet which draws me to it. 1200 miles is a long way to come and the relaxed intimacy is what draws me to it.  Personally I am a little concerned about your intention to create an event similar to Metz in terms of  high number  of balloon team participants which in my opinion would lose its appeal for many fans of your usual laidback and relaxed event. Please keep it as the world’s most relaxed balloon meet!!  Bruce Harris (England)

ORGANISER’S REPLY:

Brucie, let this be the least of your worries, we have no Intention to make our event anything like Metz!   Our event has success  because it has always been and always will be a very relaxed meet and it is for this reason we can only accept entries for the first 100 balloons. We had 72 balloons this year and we will aim for a max. 100 next but that’s it no more ever!! THIS MUST ALWAYS BE A BALLOONING VACATION!!   Ralph Shaw

 

Thank you Ralph. You gave us the perfect combination of flying and vacation. I remember your words “This is the most relaxed event in the world”. You are right, you going to see us again!! Pascal Maes (Belgium)

 

We may have travelled twice as far as those who went to Chambley, but we were so glad we’d chosen to go to Italy – Sagrantino to be precise, 30 miles south of Perugia… AEROSTAT/OCTOBER 2017
Derek Maltby (England)

Dear Ralph, thank you a lot for the great event!! It was very wonderfull to come back again and it will be a pleasure to come back next year you are a star
Silvia Grikienyte (Lithuania)

EVENT REVIEWS

Martin M.
Team 5 landed – Thank you all for this wonderful experience this year – looking forward to see many of you in the air again – Martin, Albert und Simon

Team Bridge number 75 landed 07:05. Last flight for us, now heading home. Thanks for a great event and many great flights! Safe landings everyone

Mike Webb
Hi Ralph, just wanted to say a BIG THANK YOU to you and your team for organising a great event, I know it’s been tough but you pulled it off, now you can have a lie in Any way from Geoff and Mike team 18 Hasta la vista, baby

El Capitano
Team 51 and 22 landed, our last flight today, thanks very much Ralph, as always friendly meeting my always favourite, thanks very much from Rainbow Balloon Team 22 &51.

Coen van den Heuvel
Last flight for team 47 Joost & Coen today too. We had a great time, we enjoyed the surroundings of Todi very much! Thanks to the organisation of this great event and thanks to Bar Cleri

Maggie
Hi Ralphie. Another fantastic flying holiday, great flying, beautiful countryside, plenty of sunshine, delicious food and wine. Lots of new friends. Thank you so much. We’ll be back next year. Love from Team 24

Morten Koefoed-Rasmussen
Thank you again for a really great event… we will definitely come back My and my family has enjoyed the stay and all 8 flights so much. Thank you all and especially Ralphie “The number one balloon vecation” A picture from today’s landing /Morten and Team 84

Sheila Anthony
Mille grazie Ralph. Era il incontro migliore. Non vedo l’ora l’anno prossimo. X

Philip Howarth
Thanks to Ralph and his team for a wonderful balloon meet, from all in team 26. We hope to see you again soon. Safe travels home to everyone.

Andy
Thanks Ralph. Teams 9 and 10 hitting the road after a great week. Thanks to all – especially the gang at La Venderana. We’re just regretting not planning on staying for tomorrow as well. Andy and Colin and teams

Jos Trehern
Team Tico (83) on our way now back to UK. Thank you Ralph for another amazing event. We much appreciate all you do to make this happen and look forward to being able to join you next year.

Bernard Foret
Bonjour Raphl. Nous avons passé un tres bon séjour dans cette region à voler. Bonne continuation. Nous partons aujourd’hui du festival. Bernard

Dave Marshall
Team 7 will be leaving early in the morning, thank Ralph and your team for a great event. Hope to joint you again soon.

Lech
Hi Ralph. Thank you for fantastic time. See you in 2023! team 33

Hendrik Deleu
Hi Ralph, we are on our way back tot Belgium. Thanks for the organisation. We had a wonderfull week and everybody enjoyed each minute! Ciao! Team 27 Gaverzicht Hendrik Deleu

Rachel Barkworth
We had another fantastic time in the Sagrantino region, Ralphie thank you so much for all your team’s organization- we will be back next year – just let us know details when you can. Thank you so much.

Hi Ralph, we make today the last ride and go tomorrow back to Germany. Thanks for all work and Time there you gave for this amazing Event. We had a wonderfull week and everybody enjoyed each minute! We come next year again! Warm regards Team 88 Christian

Martin Schneider
Dear Ralph, We, Team 49 and 50, would like to thank you and your helpers for the outstanding organisation of this fantastic balloon festival. The last few days have given us a lot of pleasure and lasting impressions of the country and its people. It was a wonderful holiday with and in the balloon. We will be happy to come back next year if you can spare a place for us. It was also nice to meet so many teams from different countries. We thank you for the new friendships. Jacqueline / Martin and team.

Richard Mayerhofer
Hi Ralphie, we’re going back to Austria tomorrow morning. Thanks for the wonderful relaxed days in this marvellous area. Inge+Richard+Team

Marc Derbyshire
Ralphie thank you very much h for your hospitality. My family and I had a brilliant time and go home with lots of great memories

Martin Buchenberg
Hi Ralph, we also did our last ride this morning. It was our first time in sagrantino and we enyojed it very much. Thank you to you and your team for this great experience. We are looking foreward to come again. Team 89 Martin

Ian Wadey
Hi Ralph. Sad for us, today was our last flight. Tomorrow we start our long journey home to England. With lasting memories and the thought of coming back next year, hopefully the time will pass quickly. Thank you, and all those you have involved, for making this so special for all of us. We are most grateful. Grazie mille! From Ian, Laura, Amber, Hannah & Sarah.

Will AA
Thanks Ralph .Had a great time, thanks for all your hospitality. Gail, Wendy, Will. Team 8. One more flight to go

Graeme Scaife
Thanks Ralph Team 52 the Brits and Aussies had a fabulas time met old and made many new friends. Thank you for your hospitality and all the organisation. Hope to see you next year. Graeme, Judy, Kevin and Bruce. Bee balloon.

Simon Sándor
Hi Ralph, thank your very kind hospitality, we had a wonderfull week here in Todi. All the best for you, and see you in the next year. Team 55 Sándor, Anikó, Sára, Linda

Mark Wrigglesworth
Hi Raph, we start our journey back to the UK tomorrow morning so today was also our last flight. This is our first time at Todi and the whole of Team 2 have really enjoyed it, including our two young children. Many thanks for your all your work to organise such a great event and we hope to be back in the future. Best, Mark Wrigglesworth

Martin Graf
Hello Ralph, also for the Team 04, it was the last flight today. Thank you for this nice event. We will surely come again. It was also a nice experience with the 2 Italien Internet stars, and I hope that their YouTube Video will bring more italien young pilots. We go home with the same smile as the top of my balloon. Martin Graf
3Goran Grgič
Yes it’s time to say godbay. Team 15 have today last flight and tomorow we go slowly back to home. It was our first vaccation with balloon in Umbria area and definitely not the last. Thanks to all pilots and also to you, Ralph, who help to made last week unforgettable. Goran
Pam Robertshaw
Dear Ralph, thank you so much for organising another great event and thank you also to your helpers and sponsors! We have had a fantastic time! While we have been to Sagrantino before twice supporting HoneyB, this is the first time with our own beautiful balloon The Reverend Leonard (Team 67). Truly memorable! We are heading off early in the morning, so won’t be flying tomorrow. Wishing everyone a safe journey home – thank you for your camaraderie and friendship this week!
Kevin cooper
Thanks Ralph Team 52 the Brits and Aussies had a fabulas time met old and made many new friends. Thank you for your hospitality and all the organisation. Hope to see you next year. Graeme, Judy, Kevin and Bruce. Bee balloon.
olivier
Team 32 also do not fly tomorrow. Thx for the famous balloon meeting. Hope to see you next year again. Olivier
Bart Roels
Today we made our last trip to this fantastic meeting! We will leave tomorrow morning for Belgium with only good memories. May we certainly thank Ralph and Sir Francis Drake & team super hard, despite 2 difficult years for another fantastic edition. Team 54 enjoyed it! See you next year! Bart & Caroline Team Mertens
Seyfert-Joiner
Dear Ralph and Team, we won’t be able to fly tomorrow morning unfortunately. This is team 38. It is our first time with you, we have only had rave reviews about this meet and are glad we made it. It surpassed our expectations and we would like to thank you very much for having us. It was great meeting other teams and having help when we landed in an awkward place . So many balloons taking off together with a lot of discipline… nice to be relaxed !! I hope we can come again next year. Mille Grazie!!!
Wolfgang Breuer
Dear Ralphie, the whole Remax Team 66 would like to thank you and all your helpers for this incredible event! Wonderful rides, beautiful landscapes, pleasant guests and new friends among us crazy people who send colourful balloons from the field to the sky at the crack of dawn! We really enjoyed the holiday with ballooning ! We will relax here in Umbria for a few more days and then slowly make our way back home on Wednesday. We wish all teams a safe journey home and hope to see you again soon! Always blue skies, Wolfgang, Anne, Manfred, Kai, Regina & Veit.
Michael Haberler
Dear Ralph, we’re heading home today on behalf of team 28 I would like to thank you for organizing this great event – we all enjoyed it very much looking forward to next year! Michael
Daniela
Dear Ralph, Team 25 want to thank you for the organization of this event. We had a nice week with great balloon flights, good food and wine and a lot of nice people. Now we are on our way home. We wish all the team safe journey home and hope to see you, Ralpj, soon again. Daniela, Harald and the Team!
Gail
Team 8 Gail landed. Short hop before the ling drive home. Beautiful place to fly, thanks to the organisation and all the helpful , friendly balloonists
Tony Gould
Enormous gratitude to Ralph and his organisation for achieving another successful balloon meet. Final flight today was the fastest so now heading back to the UK Well dome Ralph, unassuming superhero of the ballooning world.
Harald Schmirl
A huge thank you to Ralph and his Team, and all others involved in making this meeting a great success. Have a good Journey home and be safe! Team 60
Jos Seghers
Ralph, We thank you very much for the great time we had in Todi. Thanks for your support. It was wonderful every day. We are going back home with only good memories. We hope to see you again next year! Team 29 Jos en Karin Seghers
Ludwig Coosemans
Dear friend Ralphie, this was yet another unforgettable balloon vacation, with fantastic flying conditions in one of the most enjoyable areas of the world. Like in all the previous years: fantastic atmosphere among the teams, happy passengers, good food and wine. Many thanks also to Riccardo, Sir Francis and Roberto and his family. Already looking forward to November 1st to see your announcement of the 2023 edition! . Ludwig
Dave
Hey Ralphie I can only echo the sentiments already sent by the rest of the group. As always team ZigSpan had a fabulous holiday with great flying, super wine and food and amazing friends; old and new. Thanks for all your hard work making this such a cool event. We’re already booked to come back again next year. ATB Dave & Wendy
Harry Vos
Hello Ralphie, Many, many thanks for your great effort to make this wonderful event happen ! We could do 9 beautifull flights. Ones again, many many thanks !! We surely come back next year. Harry, Alda and the whole team !!
Jakub
Dear Ralphie, on behalf of the entire team No 73 ‘Happy People’, let me join to all greetings & thanks from other hot air balloon teams. These were really HAPPY MOMENTS for all of us. Thank you very much Ralph for your extraordinary work and your passion. We love it. Many thanks also to all the participants of this wonderful event. Piotr, Beata, Wojtek, Magda and Jakub
Niall Rowan
Dear Ralph, on behalf of Team 69, Tony and Phillipa Gould, Niall and Liz Rowan, Dave Douglas and Keith Weir, thanks once again for an amazing event. We had such a good time and this is such a good event. It is our 6th or 7th time coming. We are looking forward to next year already!
Olly Stallwood
Hi Ralph from all in team 57 – Olly, Dan, Debs and Lara a great big thank you from us, we had a fabulous time at our favourite ballooning venue. Love the views, the food, the flying, but best of all the friendly people! Grazie Mille
Glen Boyle
Hi ralph team 4! Going home early tomorrow morninga big thank you from the whole team for a superb event finally things are returning to normal see you again soon Glen, phil, scott, carol, & spike
Wolfgang Breuer
Hi Ralphie, after a few more days to relax with another visit to Todi and also the beautiful Orvieto, all team members have now arrived at their respective homes. We would like to thank you again for all your efforts, it was a wonderful event in a beautiful setting. You really have a very special place as your home! All the best until next time, Wolfgang, Anne, Manfred, Kai, Regina & Veit.
Gary M
Team 79 🇬🇧 half way home overnight stop in Pontarlier, France. Ralph, just saying the same as all the other teams what a great week we’ve had. Splendid and huge thanks for all your hard work 👍. We were concerned this year with how you would manage almost 90 teams and cope with the NOTAM restrictions imposed on you. In the event all the teams complied and we weren’t unduly affected and I think it fair to say we all had some wonderful safe flights. Social media and electronic trajectories I struggle with and a far cry from our first visit twenty five years ago. Paper map and bike strapped onto the basket for retrieve. Fond memories. We were trying to count how many visits since then, we think 14 or 15 and each time as good as the last. Keep going, we’ll be back to support, help and fly again. Meantime be good, stay safe and have a well deserved rest 🍷😴. Team Madelin. Julie, Gary and Paulo. Grazi mile.

Dear Ralph,

Team 69 have all arrived home safely and are already suffering withdrawal symptoms from our fantastic time at your Italian Grand Prix.  I cannot thank you enough for your stamina and devotion to improving the event over the years.  Long may it continue.

I fully understand the need for the new landing procedure and the fact that the balloon teams were happy to comply shows that they fully understand the shared airspace requirements with Perugia.  This is a victim of your success in expanding the appeal to more balloonists each year.

Tony

Hi Ralphie,

    Happy to understand you’re satisfied with your really beautiful balloon meet. From a pilot’s point of view I can tell it really was a very top one! Probably my very best ever one! I attended balloon meets all around for several years and I can tell your format is great and the idea of a ‘balloon vacation’ is a winning one, that’s for sure.

I’ll be glad to attend the next year event as well and as long as I do really understand all of the efforts you had to face for such a huge event.

Giulio

2023 PRESS ARCHIVE

Il Turista Info -Il Festival delle Mongolfiere in Umbria | Date 2023 (ilturista.info)

Orvieto News -Turismo a Todi, arrivi al +21,7% rispetto al 2022 | Orvietonews.it

Il Tam Tam -Il cartellone degli eventi nel mese di agosto a Todi « ilTamTam.it il giornale online dell’umbria

La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno -Ottanta mongolfiere colorano il cielo dell’Umbria -La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno

Umbria Social -Dieci giorni di spettacolo, a Todi ancora una volta protagoniste le mongolfiere (umbriasocial.it)

Perugia Today -Italian International Balloon Grand Prix, la magia delle mongolfiere torna a Todi e Gualdo Cattaneo (perugiatoday.it)

Umbria Social -Lo spettacolo delle mongolfiere in Umbria per l’Italian International Balloon Grand Prix (foto+video) (umbriasocial.it)

Corriere dell’Umbria -Todi, la magia delle mongolfiere al Baloon Grand Prix colora i cieli dell’Umbria: il video-Corriere dell’Umbria (corrieredellumbria.it)

Il Tam Tam -Tutti a caccia delle ottanta mongolfiere: le info utili « ilTamTam.it il giornale online dell’umbria

Rai News -La magia del volo delle mongolfiere (rainews.it)

Umbria Cronaca -130 imprenditori in mongolfiera per “volare” verso un’Umbria migliore -Il quotidiano che racconta l’Umbria (umbriacronaca.it)

ANSA -Oltre 130 imprenditori in mongolfiera per un’Umbria migliore –Notizie -Ansa.it

Umbria 24 News -Mongolfiere in volo sui cieli dell’Umbria. Le immagini -Umbria 24

Rgunotizie -Mongolfiere a Gualdo Cattaneo, un fine settimana con il naso all’insù | rgunotizie

Il Tam Tam

La Voce dell’Umbria

La Nazione

Il Tam Tam

Umbria Social 

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ANSA 80 Mongolfiere nei cieli dell’Umbria

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