Taunggyi Balloon Festival: A Floating Heritage in Myanmar's Sky

While you might have seen massive hot air balloons before, the ones at the Taunggyi Tazaungdaing Festival are unlike any others you've encountered. There's something uniquely magical about watching these enormous illuminated balloons ascend into the sky on a cool night, accompanied by the rhythmic beats of Shan drums. The experience is truly incomparable.

These balloons are much more than just decorated aerial spectacles. They carry within them beliefs, hopes, and strength. In essence, the Taunggyi hot air balloons are like living, breathing creatures.

The Origins at Kone Thar Monastery

According to historical records, the grand Taunggyi Hot Air Balloon Festival traces its origins to the Kone Thar Monastery.

The Shan people traditionally believed that launching hot air balloons brings good fortune and elevates one's karma, while setting off fireworks drives away evil spirits. During the colonial period, people would launch balloons and set off fireworks in almost every household. However, it hadn't yet evolved into a large-scale festival.

In November 1941, the head monk of Kone Thar Monastery led the creation of a massive balloon nearly 50 feet in diameter. The balloon was made from fabric, with Daw Thint and her team taking responsibility for the sewing process, which took an entire month. The wick was made from robes twisted with iron and coated with tar. The wick's circumference was nearly 2 feet - about an armful - and stood 10 feet tall. U Hla Phay and his team were responsible for creating the wick. Various household items were also attached to the balloon's base as offerings. The base structure was made from bamboo.

Once everything was ready - the balloon, the wick, and the base structure - preparations began for the launch. This collaborative creation was launched from the monastery's hilltop, marking the historic beginning of what would become the Taunggyi Hot Air Balloon Festival.

By 1945, Taunggyi began celebrating the Tazaungdaing Festival officially. Initially, balloons were launched for entertainment rather than competition, and they didn't include fireworks. This tradition continued in subsequent years, with friendly rivalry developing between different neighborhoods. When balloons were launched, people would chant playful verses like "If you want to outshine our neighborhood's fire, you'll need to work hard for ten or twenty monsoons!"

These friendly competitions eventually evolved into formal contests judged by respected community elders. In the 1950s, participants began incorporating fireworks and firecrackers into their balloon designs. They innovated based on traditional Myanmar gunpowder-making techniques passed down by the Thein Taung Sayardaw.

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The Taunggyi Hot Air Balloon Festival has now been running for over 70 years. Except for brief interruptions in 1949, 1988, and during the COVID period, it has been celebrated annually without fail, becoming a cherished festival of the Shan people. Currently, the festival is held at the Awaiyar grounds in Taunggyi.

Night Fire or Diamond Earrings?

There are three types of balloons launched at the Taunggyi festival. During the day, they launch balloons crafted into various shapes and figures.

For nighttime launches, there are two categories: the Night Fire and Diamond Earrings. Night Fire balloons carry fireworks that explode once airborne, creating spectacular displays. Diamond Earrings are decorated with smaller lanterns in specific patterns without fireworks. Among these three types, Night Fire is the most popular, challenging, and artistic category.

The nighttime events draw larger crowds and are considered the festival's signature attraction. Watching a balloon competition can be an emotional experience, with spectators sharing in the excitement and anxiety of the competitors. It's delightful to watch a Diamond Earrings balloon gradually take shape in the darkness, revealing its intricate patterns. The sight of Night Fire balloons releasing their colorful fireworks across the night sky is equally mesmerizing.

The Inner Spirit of the Balloons

Like all traditional festivals, this one carries intangible cultural elements. It encompasses spiritual beliefs, religious faith, and heartfelt convictions that can't be physically touched or displayed.

The Taunggyi hot air balloons embody this principle. They represent something far greater than their physical form, containing intensive mental and emotional investments from their creators.

Money alone can't create these balloons. Each one requires collaborative effort and shared responsibility from many individuals. It's not something that can be achieved with ordinary persistence alone. It takes an entire year to create a single balloon.

After the Water Festival ends, teams begin sourcing materials: paper from Myaing Gyi, local bamboo, gunpowder, and so on. Everyone takes responsibility for their specific roles. Whether it's crafting the balloon's shape, mixing gunpowder, or handling other detailed tasks, each person must perform their duties with utmost dedication. A single balloon requires over a thousand sheets of paper, all crafted by hand without machine assistance. This gives you an idea of the immense labor and manpower required.

Shaping the balloon also demands both intellectual effort and physical labor to achieve the desired design. For the gunpowder specialists, the responsibility is even greater. They must precisely calculate explosion forces and weights - there's no room for error. There have been instances where people lost their lives while mixing gunpowder for the festival.

Once everything is complete and the team enters the competition ground to the sound of Shan drums, even greater responsibilities await.

Launching a Night Fire balloon requires around 100 people. Controlling an inflating balloon isn't something anyone can do easily. You need to understand wind patterns, have experience, and be well-trained.

The person lighting the wick also carries significant responsibility and faces considerable danger. Accidents like fires or explosions can occur if something goes wrong. It requires experience, training, and expertise.

In the cool winter of the Shan State, both the wick lighters and balloon controllers work up a sweat, while spectators watch with bated breath.

As the balloon gradually fills with hot air, managing its surging force and determining the right moment for launch becomes crucial. The ultimate goal is to ensure that the balloon, which took nearly a year to prepare, ascends safely into the sky.

When the launched balloon successfully floats up into the sky, not just the competitors but even the spectators feel overwhelming joy. It's thrilling enough to give you goosebumps. Having your team's balloon rise safely into the sky is the essence of the festival - it's the shared wish of all participants. This requires a year of preparation, calculating and preparing for every contingency to avoid accidents or mistakes.

If a balloon fails and burns up, the loss isn't just financial. It affects the spiritual investment made throughout the year.

This is why the Taunggyi Tazaungdaing Festival balloons represent much more than just enormous aerial displays.

Taunggyi Balloons and UNESCO

The Taunggyi Hot Air Balloon Festival tradition is based on cultural heritage and Buddhist foundations, and it continues to maintain its traditional rules and regulations.

The scoring system awards up to 20 points for inflation time. Faster ascent earns more points, with one point deducted for each minute of delay.

For shape categories, points are awarded based on how closely the balloon resembles its intended design.

The ascent quality is also scored. Whether the balloon rises straight or tilts affects the points awarded.

The "sky record" measures how long the balloon stays airborne. A full score is awarded for 40 minutes of flight time.

These are the basic scoring criteria for balloons. There are also specific scoring rules for different balloon categories.

Daytime figure balloons are divided into two categories: two-legged and four-legged figures. They must be realistic, with colors matching natural appearances. The crafting of heads, legs, arms, wings, and tails is evaluated.

For nighttime Diamond Earrings balloons, the main balloon must be between 18 and 20 feet in diameter. Points are awarded for lantern arrangement, text representation, pattern clarity, and whether the small lanterns remain lit.

For Night Fire balloons, scoring is based on the quantity and variety of fireworks, color diversity, and the duration from the first to the last firework.

There's another rule that all competition participants must follow: when teams enter the competition ground with their balloons, they cannot play modern music or use speakers. They can only use traditional Shan drums. This rule is included in the competition regulations, and it's a particularly admirable aspect.

The Ministry of Culture is working to register this Shan national cultural heritage, with its traditional rules, customs, and demonstration of collective national spirit, as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.

For this reason, the use of imported ready-made gunpowder and fireworks was banned in 2018. Competitors must now use only traditionally crafted gunpowder.

As balloon master U Kyaw Yin once said, "Launching hot air balloons is practicing the habit of collectively facing and overcoming various challenges and obstacles."

Winners will celebrate joyously in the competition ground. Those who lose due to fate will embrace each other and gather strength for next year. Spectators will share in both the sadness of defeat and the joy of victory.

Viewers, losers, and winners all stand together under the festival sky, enveloped by the sound of Shan drums.

This is the Taunggyi Tazaungdaing Festival. These balloons struggling to ascend into the sky are our national heritage. They are symbols of a nation under construction. And ultimately, they represent the journey of human life itself.

By Nu Thit Moe (Y3A)

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