Cappadocia Balloon Festival takes off with 30 shaped balloons

The festival organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism opened with 30 hot-air balloons, including the student-designed “Whale” balloon, taking to the sky. The festival will continue through August 2.

Scraper SystemJuly 31, 2026, 11:56 AM

Cappadocia Balloon Festival takes off with 30 shaped balloons

The Cappadocia Balloon Festival, organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, began with a display flight by 30 shaped hot-air balloons.

Balloons participating from Türkiye, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Brazil, Slovakia, Austria and Poland took off at sunrise from the festival grounds in the town of Göreme. The balloons, designed in shapes including a heart, owl, chick, wolf, duck, parrot, octopus, rocket, globe and clown, created colorful scenes over valleys covered with fairy chimneys.

Kapadokya Balon Festivali 30 figürlü balonla başladı

The “Balloon of My Dreams” Design Competition held as part of the festival was won by sixth-grade student Bengi Serra Kaya, whose balloon featuring a “Whale” design also took flight for the first time.

Members of the AK Party Provincial Youth Branch held an awareness event by cycling along the bicycle path around the festival grounds.

Nevşehir Governor Hüseyin Kök said in a statement to journalists that approximately 316,000 people had taken balloon tours in the region between January and July this year. Governor Kök said, “There are 359 hot-air balloons operated by 30 balloon companies in our region. Thirty-seven of our pilots are women. An average of 750,000 guests experience balloon flights each year. Depending on weather conditions, flights can be operated on 224 days of the year.”

Kapadokya Balon Festivali, 30 figürlü balonun gösteri uçuşuyla başladı

Abdussamet Aygün, one of the visitors who came to watch the festival, said, “The festival creates a wonderful scene with balloons in different shapes. We came as a family and were very happy.” Özge Şenmerdan, who came from Ankara, said, “Everyone should come here. I came especially to see the shaped balloons. The atmosphere here deeply impressed me.”

The Cappadocia Balloon Festival will end on Sunday, August 2.

Cappadocia Balloon Festival takes off with 30 shaped balloons