The international hot air balloon festival took place in the skies over the Orsha region
A series of bright events marked the celebration of City Day and Independence Day of the Republic of Belarus in the Orsha district. One of the most memorable was the 2nd International Hot Air Balloon Festival "Peaceful Sky of Orshanshchina". Its organizers are the Orsha District Executive Committee and the sports club "Orsha".
This year, it expanded its borders, with a crew from Latvia joining Belarusians and Lithuanians. By the way, the first balloon, piloted by Lithuanian Šiurkus Gintaras, soared into the sky from the Orsha castle in 2012. The spectacle was impressive, and the following year marked the beginning of the international festival.
This time, out of the four planned flights, three took place due to weather conditions. Before taking off, pilots carefully studied meteorological conditions, launched test small balloons, and resolved numerous other issues regarding possible take-off and landing sites.
The greatest connoisseur of all traditions related to ballooning turned out to be pilot Darius Mikalaunas, who conducted an initiation ceremony for the Orsha residents who flew with him. After the flight, he would light a lock of hair for each of the newcomers, extinguish it with champagne, and then sprinkle it with earth, saying:
"No matter how good it is in the sky, always return to the ground". As a farewell, he presented each of them with a corresponding certificate.The festival organizers prepared a rich cultural program for the participants: excursions around the district, including visits to Levki – the house-museum of Yanka Kupala, the Ice Arena, and other attractions of Orshanshchina.
In short, there were plenty of impressions for everyone – both balloonists and spectators. And next year, according to the director of the sports club
"Orsha" by Sergey Kolesov, the festival will bring together an even larger number of participants under the peaceful sky of the Orsha region – Russians are planning to join the teams.Olga Lebedeva, "Vitebskie vesti"