Preparations underway for the opening event of the 29th European Balloon Festival in the town of Igualada, Barcelona, northeastern Spain, 10 July 2025. Some 50 balloons are attending the festival, the biggest event of southern Europe. (Photo by Enric Fontcuberta/EPA)





A ballon takes part in the opening event of the 29th European Balloon Festival in the town of Igualada, Barcelona, northeastern Spain, 10 July 2025. (Photo by Enric Fontcuberta/EPA)





Preparations underway for the opening event of the 29th European Balloon Festival in the town of Igualada, Barcelona, northeastern Spain, 10 July 2025. (Photo by Enric Fontcuberta/EPA)





Close-up view of one of the balloons taking part in the opening event of the 29th European Balloon Festival in the town of Igualada, Barcelona, northeastern Spain, 10 July 2025. (Photo by Enric Fontcuberta/EPA)





Preparations underway for the opening event of the 29th European Balloon Festival in the town of Igualada, Barcelona, northeastern Spain, 10 July 2025. (Photo by Enric Fontcuberta/EPA)





Preparations underway for the opening event of the 29th European Balloon Festival in the town of Igualada, Barcelona, northeastern Spain, 10 July 2025. (Photo by Enric Fontcuberta/EPA)





The Ballon Generali de Paris hot air research balloon performs air quality checks in the sky to make the progress of global warming visible, over the Park Andre-Citroen in Paris, France, on April 29, 2025. (Photo by Benoit Tessier/Reuters)





A pilot checks rigging inside a balloon envelope as five hot air balloons prepare for a sunrise launch over Gilcombe Farm in Bruton, Somerset on Wednesday, June 11, 2025 to announce Show of Hands – the UK's first fully community-built music and arts festival. (Photo by Ben Birchall/PA Wire)





An aerial image shows hot air balloons, mostly made from recycled paper and tied with ropes, floating in the air during the annual hot air balloon festival, held since 1950 to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the Islamic holiday marking the end of Ramadan, in Wonosobo, Central Java, on April 2, 2025. (Photo by Devi Rahman/AFP Photo)





Cappadocia, which attracts the attention of local and foreign tourists with its fairy chimneys hot air balloons as well as rock-carved historical sites, hosts millions of visitors every year in Nevsehir, Turkiye on April 22, 2025. TheCappadocia, which is considered the center of hot air ballooning in terms of flight days and number of passengers in the world, receives 4 million 765 thousand 240 tourists with balloon tours in the last 10 years. (Photo by Behcet Alkan/Anadolu via Getty Images)





Hot air balloons glide over valley with Turkish flag on it during the National Sovereignty and Children's Day in Nevsehir, Turkiye on April 23, 2025. (Photo by Behcet Alkan/Anadolu via Getty Images)





Visitors watch hot air balloons being prepared for launch during celebrations to mark Vesak Day at Ngawen Temple complex in Muntilan, Central Java, on May 12, 2024. (Photo by Devi Rahman/AFP Photo)





Several balloons take part in the opening event of the 29th European Balloon Festival in the town of Igualada, Barcelona, northeastern Spain, 10 July 2025. Some 50 balloons are attending the festival, the biggest event of southern Europe. (Photo by Enric Fontcuberta/EPA)





Workers install the balloon of a new Paris 2024 flame cauldron, with a 100% electric and non-Olympic flame, which will rise above the Tuileries Garden and the Paris skyline, in Paris, France, on June 11, 2025. (Photo by Benoit Tessier/Reuters)





Balloonists take off during a competition at the 35th Balloon Festival in Torres, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil on May 3, 2025. (Photo by Diego Vara/Reuters)