Saga Ballon Fiesta, 2019

Wow! What a great event! Every year in October hundreds of hot air balloons get released, compete and light up at night for thousands of spectators from all over Japan and the world.

This was my second year and fourth time at the festival. You can say I've learned couple lessons and made few mistakes along the way - so here are my 5 tips!

1. The event is weather dependent - be prepared for the balloons to stay on the ground. Luckily never happened to me but affected my friends.

2. Give yourself extra time for traveling - traffic is congested and parking lines are long unless you come very early in the morning (around 4-5am), or if your travel by motorcycle or train. The parking fee for the day is 1000yen per car, motorcycles and bikes are free. Oh, and don't follow Google maps suggestions to go to side roads, like I did. I was followed by a city vehicles in the pitch dark and tried to explain in my broken Japanese that I wasn't trying to park illegally. Just stick to the main road and follow the signs.

3. There are many spots from which you can observe the race. If you are not in a hurry walk I would highly recommend to walk around. My favorite secret spot for picture taking/night watching was across the river (follow the crowd across the bridge away from the event - it's a 7-10 min walk from the parking - just keep on walking until you find the view you like). The food and morning meet&greet are next to each other and are on the other side of the river -they will be hard to miss. Explore the vendors before you commit as there are so many good and often unique options! I buy Ureshino tea at the event, last year I got a really cool high quality sweatshirt. souvenirs and local sweets.

4. When I needed a break from the crowd I would venture uphill where you can have yet another vantage point and sometimes see goats, scarecrows exhibition and have all sorts of funny interactions.

5. Follow the event on Facebook and check the updates on the wind, schedule for the day or to get some photo inspiration.