I love the hot air balloon festivals in Canberra, particularly the one on now, part of Canberra Week. Getting up and mooching around the balloons as they set up on the lawns at Old Parliament House at dawn is a lot easier in autumn than in the cold of winter when the other major balloon festival takes place. I remember when the ballooning festivals started here about 16 years ago. I was blown away by the magic of the things: their sheer size, how they looked like giant pregnant women lying on the grass; the dragon’s breath roar of the burners; and their silence in between times. I also love the special shaped balloons. Over the years the most memorable have been the birthday cake, the upside down balloon, the cow, the polar bear, the Swatch watch, the Freddo frog, and the kookaburra. Its wonderfully surreal to see these things just appear out of nowhere in the sky, or see them floating among the clouds or drifting across the lake.
On Saturday, I went to this year’s lauch of the balloon fiesta. I was especially interested in the Van Gogh balloon, which was appearing in the southern hemisphere for the first time. And it was magnificent! Its a three-dimensional balloon replica of Van Gogh’s painting, Self Portrait with Grey Felt Hat, and was made in 2003 for the 150th anniversary of Van Gogh’s birth. The face has the rather grim exacting expresssion and textured brushstroke look that it should.
Apparently the balloon was made by modelling a 3-D plaster cast of the head from a digital photo of the portrait. The original portrait is kept at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Actually there are three self portraits in grey felt hats, two in dark felt hats, seven in straw hats and two in caps – obviously he was a man who liked hats! But I imagine it is this portrait that the balloon was modelled on. The brush strokes were copied onto the model on the areas of the head that were not in the painting, and then transferred onto more than 1000 pieces of balloon cloth. This was done with a computer-directed laser printer. Up close to the balloon you can see the cloth has a definite digital print appearance, but that is lost quickly as you step away.
The other special shape balloons this year are a frog (also from the Nederlands), a bunch of balloons, an Aussie Rules football, and the Liberty House (with two cats on its roof). The advertisment for tyres on the football flapped a little at one corner, gradually came loose all down one side, and then shimmered gracefully to the ground, even before the balloon took to the sky. Which was probably a good thing if it was going to fall off somewhere.
Many of the special shape balloons in the world, including the Van Gogh, are made by Cameron’s Balloons in Bristol, UK. According to the Wikipaedia entry, Don Cameron started making balloons in 1971 in his basement, and they now make about 500 a year. You can take a virtual tour around their factory here. Camerons also make airships! And they made the Breitling Orbiter balloon that made aviation history by flying round the world in 1999. There is a model kit of the orbiter, if you fancy such things.
One of the balloonists I chatted to was telling me that Kavanagh balloons are the only manufacturers of hot air balloons in Australia. She had a Kavanagh balloon (and immediately I noticed others), and was visting from Mildura where the The Nudie 16th World Hot Air Balloon Championship is going to be staged from the 26 June – 3 July 2004. With over 80 competitors from around the world already signed up, it sounds exciting.
