Fly high at Taj Balloon Festival

The Taj Balloon Festival with a dazzling display of 15 hot air balloons against the backdrop of the iconic Taj Mahal is back to enliven the skies of Agra.

The festival, organised by the Uttar Pradesh Government in association with E-Factor Adventure Tourism, kicked off on Friday and will conclude November 30.

The line-up comprises balloons from different countries including India, the US, UK, Canada, Spain, UAE, Netherlands, Turkey, Switzerland, Belgium, Poland, and Malaysia.

These also include special-shaped balloons featuring characters like 'Happy Egg', 'Bob the Lobster' and 'Smurf'.

"Last year, the festival garnered an extremely positive response as per tourism and hospitality stake-holders, and we are hoping to carry forward the momentum in this edition," UP Tourism Joint Director Avinash Chand Misra said.

"The initiative also resonated well with local residents of Agra, prompting us to make this a regular feature," he added.

The ongoing festival has night glows and tethered flights at the PAC parade grounds.

Night glows are a visual delight wherein the massive balloons stacked up close to each other provide a colourful symphony of sound and light, in sync with accompanying music.

The balloon flights will happen every morning at sunrise and the night glows after sunset. The eye-grabbing night glow is open to the general public.