A sell-out Hororata Glow Festival lit up the skies in Hororata.

ororaraOnce again Hororata delivers a fun festival for all the family. This small settlement in rural Canterbury has made a big name for itself by delivering outstanding family festivals. The Hororata Glow Festival certainly proved that sell-out events are not just the domain of large cities.

As the sun began to set over the Canterbury Plains ten hot air balloons stood up as tall as four giraffes ready to Glow. What followed was a spectacular night glow that had the crowd of 10,000 enthralled. With the balloons burning in time to music it was a symphony of light. Then as most of the spectacular balloons slowly deflated DJ Craig Shaw rose above the crowd like the Phoenix. One lone balloon remained standing and lasers then took over the night sky reaching out beyond the festival limits creating a light show never seen before in New Zealand. “My kids were so moved by the show, they didn’t want to leave. We danced the night away as a family. It was incredible!” exclaimed one visitor.

Balloons, lasers and our live band were the finishing touches to an afternoon of family fun at the Glow festival where people had discovered a huge variety of unique activities including walking inside a hot air balloon envelope, the University of Canterbury science demonstrations, the inflatable movie theatre, a fairy tree, UV art, a warm-up cube and massive fairground.

“We packed so much into the festival and knew it would be special. When the balloons lit up and were able to carry out the full night Glow followed by the light show, it was a very special moment.” Balloons and balloonists come from all over NZ to join in the night glow. “We are grateful to Ballooning Canterbury and all the balloonists who travelled from around New Zealand to join with our community to make the Hororata Glow Festival happen,” said Cindy Driscoll, Hororata Community Trust Executive Officer.

“It has been an amazing week flying with the visiting balloon crews. They just love coming to Hororata and feel part of our community,” said Ballooning Canterbury, Chief Pilot Michael Oakley. “Looking at the local Facebook pages, people have really enjoyed seeing the balloons flying and we are grateful to all the farmers who have happily had us land on their farms. It was really special to be part of the Hororata Glow Festival. It’s such a huge team effort and we are really proud of the performance we put on for the massive crowd.”

“We wanted to create a festival which made people ‘glow’ and we succeeded. We have something special in Hororata. We say ‘Our Community. Your community’ and last night that mantra was evident.

Thank you to all the volunteers, our partners, suppliers and everyone who helped make this a memorable festival,” said Cindy.

The Hororata Glow Festival will retunr 6th May 2023.