A balloon glow or night glow is an event that is often held as a climax to a

hot air balloon festival Hot air balloon festivals are held annually in many places throughout the year, allowing hot air balloons operators to gather- as well as for the general public- to participate in various activities.They can include races; evening "night glows", ...

. The

balloons A balloon is a flexible membrane bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. For special purposes, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), ...

are set up at

sunset Sunset (or sundown) is the disappearance of the Sun at the end of the Sun path, below the horizon of the Earth (or any other astronomical object in the Solar System) due to its Earth's rotation, rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth, it ...

in the launch area, an open field, or a football stadium and are inflated as if they are going to take off, but instead of being allowed to ascend, they are held down by the ground crew. The

propane Propane () is a three-carbon chain alkane with the molecular formula . It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure, but becomes liquid when compressed for transportation and storage. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum ref ...

burners are ignited periodically to keep the balloons inflated with hot air. Since the event typically occurs in the dark, the balloons glow like huge light bulbs or Chinese lanterns,New York Times
Up, Up and Gently Away
/ref> giving a spectacular display for the audience. Sometimes the event is judged and sometimes it is held merely for entertainment and the celebration of ballooning.

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File:Hot air balloon fiesta.JPG, Night Glow display at the Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in

Angeles City Angeles (), officially the City of Angeles (; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 462,928 people. A ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. File:balloon night glow 2001 09.jpg, Night glow at the Great Pershing Balloon Derby near Brookfield, Missouri, September, 2001 File:Night Glow 2012-09-08 THWZ 01.jpg, Night glow at the ''"Warsteiner Internationale Montgolfiade"'' in

Warstein Warstein () is a municipality with town status in the district of Soest, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located at the north end of Sauerland. Geography Warstein is located north of the Arnsberger Wald (forest), at a brook called Wä ...

, Germany, September 2012 File:BoW nightglow1.jpg, Night glow at Balloons over Waikato in

Hamilton, New Zealand Hamilton (, ) is an inland city in the North Island of New Zealand. Located on the banks of the Waikato River, it is the seat and most populous city of the Waikato, Waikato region. With a territorial population of , it is the country's List of c ...

, 2010 File:Night Glow at 20 FIBAQ 2016 - Alter do Chão.jpg, Night Glow at the 20º Hot Air Balloon Festival (FIBAQ) in Alter do Chão, 11 November 2016

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See also