#MakeFirstMomentsHappen: Our First Hot Air Balloon Ride

#WeekendSideTrips

By A Not So Secret Life and Randomly Candid

Flying in a hot air balloon has been on both our bucket lists forever. That list just got a little bit shorter as we checked that off just this year when we were invited by Cebu Pacific to join the Lubao International Balloon and Music Festival (IBMF) 2019 last April 5-7 in Pradera Verda in Lubao, Pampanga.

Now on its 6th year, the Lubao IBMF is considered as the biggest hot air balloon festival in Southeast Asia. With a total of 31 hot air balloons that come in different sizes, colors and designs this year, the said event is being highly anticipated by both local and international hot air balloon pilots and tourists.

Aside from the hot air balloon fest, Lubao IBMF was highlighted with new activities this year such as the rallycross, motor paragliding, off-road and ultra-light planes.

Since there was no direct flight from Iloilo to Clark during that time, we flew to Manila first and traveled for about two hours going to Clark. It was actually the first time for both of us to travel to Clark. We were impressed to see so many big developments in such a small place.

We arrived in Clark late in the afternoon and only had a few minutes upon checking in at our hotel to freshen up as we went immediately to Lubao which is about an hour and a half away from Clark.

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Our group, which is composed of bloggers, influencers and content creators from Cebu, Davao and General Santos was welcomed by thousands of people on the concert grounds. And so, we joined the moshpit and enjoyed the music fest with some of the country’s popular music artists – December Avenue, Ben & Ben, Juan Karlos and I Belong to the Zoo.

Other featured artists on the succeeding days of the event include Apl.De.Ap, Gloc-9, Shanti Dope, Al James, Bamboo, Moira, This Band, and Vice Ganda.

To those who are planning to experience the said event next year, you really need to wake up early. In order to catch the hot air balloon festival, we had to wake up as early as 3 am allotting time for our travel going to Lubao from Clark. It is because the hot air balloons cannot fly when it’s already too hot. The ideal time to fly the hot air balloons is between 5 am to 7 am.

Ilonggos will soon be able to explore Pampanga as Cebu Pacific Air is officially launching its Iloilo-Clark-Iloilo route on August 9! So, what are you waiting for? Plan out your itinerary now, start booking your next adventure and #MakeFirstMomentsHappen with Cebu Pacific!