The Balloon Globo Regatta in Ajijic 2016

The Globo Regatta was held on a Saturday, Sept. 10th. It is not only the lift off of the beautiful globos but also the lift off of the Independence Day celebrations that last all week. Something interesting is happening day and night until the day after Sept. 16th. Below is the photo of the globo that AccessLakeChapala sponsored with the “Si Lupita” team. It was successful and flew high into the sky.

The online calendar had the starting time of the globos at three in the afternoon. I knew from several years of watching them that they did not get started until two or three hours later. This time I did not go at three and sit in the bleachers for several hours, waiting and waiting. I went later and timed it perfectly.

Above is a photo of Revolution street before the crowds came. You can see that a policeman was walking in the middle of the street. Several police were there, watching over things.

A few days before the Independcnce Day celebrations begin, men walk around town carrying these hats, flags and other trinkets. From my ten years of living here, I have observed that Mexican Independence is one of the most celebrated times in Ajijic. Parties go on day and night. There are so many events that I can only make it to a few. Otherwise I would be in bed from exhaustion.

At every celebration there are food stands. There is no reason to go hungry as everything is inexpensive and delicious. If you want healthy food, the stand in the photo above is the place. Boiled vegetables and plastic glasses filled with pealed and cut up fruit. But if you want meat, check out the far left of the photo. Meat sandwiches.

As you can see from the photo above, it was a beautiful, sunny day. There were a few high clouds but no rain. This is the first time in several years that we had no rain for the globos. What a treat to be able to walk around without having to carry an umbrella. We have had a lot of rain this year and the mountains are very green.

In case you were wondering why a ladder was in the field, you can see that it is needed to hold up the larger globos while they are being filled with hot air from below. This is a delicate operation and many globos burn up at this point because the thin paper blows into the can of flames. It is fun to watch, even if they catch fire..

If you look closely under the Globo in the above photo you will see the red of fire that is going into it. The larger globos are, the more likely they are to catch fire because if a wind comes up, it pushes the thin paper of the Globo right into the flame and it burns up. But this one made it very high. See next photo.

The globos regatta is one of the most popular events in Ajijic. It is exciting and marks the beginning of an entire week of Independence Day celebrations. I am glad I was able to see it this year.

Many of the globos have been commissioned by different organizations or businesses. Experts make them and add the advertisement for the client. As you can see in the above photo, there is something hanging from it, most likely to advertise the organization that paid for it. Maybe it should have been larger and easier to read.

I wonder where those high flying large globos land. I heard someone say that one landed in her yard. I also heard that years ago a burning Globo landed in a farmer’s corn field and burned it up. The owner of that Globo had to pay for his corn. Be careful if you are watching the globos from the soccer field. Many of them quickly burn up and fall back into the field. Maybe that would be an advantage of having an umbrella, even on a sunny day.

These two globos went up at about the same time. Both of them went a long ways. No fires. I kept waiting for them to run into each other but they didn’t.

They both quickly disappeared.

Someone brought a drone. It must have gotten some great photos, especially of the crown below. The globos regatta has turned high tech!

The members of the band were taking a break and enjoying some of the delicious food that was sold there, both inside the soccer field and lining the street. It looks like one young man is giving his friend a bite of his pizza. What a nice friend to share his lunch.

The above photo is only of the top half of the bandstand. This is where you go to sit down and rest and be protected from burning globos as they fall into the soccer field.

But if you are an adventurous sort of person, stay out in the field and keep your hat and on and your camera ready. And like the woman in the middle of this photo, have a water bottle handy.