The first edition of four-day Tamil Nadu International Balloon Festival began in front of a crowd of 1,500 college students and dignitaries at Mahalingam College of Engineering and Technology in Pollachi near here on Wednesday.
Organised by Global Media Box and Camping Retreats of India in collaboration with Tamil Nadu Tourism Department, it is intended to impart a boost to this activity here.
Chief Guest and Tourism Commissioner Har Sahay Meena, said that Pollachi can be developed into a major tourist hotspot with this activity.
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District Collector Archana Patnaik, Sub-Collector (Pollachi) Rashmi Sidharth Zagade, Pollachi Chamber of Commerce President G.D. Gopalakrishnan took part along with other officials, Rotary Club and Round Table members besides college students.
Three balloons were inflated on the inaugural day with the dignitaries taking part. They went up to a height of 50 feet. Several college students also went on the trips and shared their experience.
Christopher Prashanth, Event Coordinator, said that seven balloons would be inflated during this festival, which has eight participants from Australia, U.S., Slovakia, Thailand, India and the Netherlands.
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Free-fly trips would also be held in which balloons would be flown at heights of nearly 1,000 feet. An entertainment session known as ‘balloon night glow’ would be conducted on January 30 around 6 p.m. at Kumaraguru College of Technology and on January 31 at the Pollachi Circus Grounds, around the same time.