Visitors
Are today's events carried out or not?
Are today's events carried out or not?
It is the most frequently asked question during the term of the balloon fiesta. All of you who come to Saga from far away must feel uneasy if you come to the launch site without knowing whether the competitions will be carried out or not. Besides, it is quite disappointing suddenly to be told of the cancelling of flights, isn't it?
Every day early in the morning and the afternoon the operation staff gather to discuss the weather conditions given by the team of meteorologists and the meteorological observatory. Then they make a decision to or not to carry out the day's events. They also decide what kinds of tasks or events to carry out. Their decisions are announced to the pilots at the briefing.
The flights, in short, can be divided into two categories. One is that all the balloons take off from the launch site, and the other is that they fly in and land on the launch site from places other than the launch site. In the case of ballooning, everything depends on the weather conditions on that day and at that time.
When the operation staff find it very difficult to make decisions, they sometimes wait till the weather conditions settle down to some extent. Then they hold a briefing again to announce what kind of tasks or competitions to carry out. However, in the case of a sudden change in the weather conditions after their announcement, the tasks can be cancelled by them. Furthermore, they may cancell the flights even in the midst of competitions if the weather conditions change suddenly. We would like you to understand such an unexpected cancelling, because they make a decision for the good of the pilots and their crew members' safety.
After the decisions of the operation staff are announced at the briefing, they will be broadcast right away by means of the public system at the launch site station. They are also released through the website, so please refer to the official website of the Saga International Hot-air Balloon Fiesta.
At the event stage and its surroundings you can enjoy various programs of interst, regardless of the competitions. So, why not have fun there, too?
2006.10.03
