@81107

The Strathaven Balloon Festival began in 1999 when a group of people from the town thought it would be good to generate an exciting public event within the town, to help the local economy. A hot air balloon festival was suggested and, as one of us happened to know Don Cameron of Cameron Balloons, the largest manufacturer of hot air balloons, this seemed the ideal choice. Don Cameron was extremely helpful from the start and went out of his way to encourage and help us. With a lot of meetings and a great deal of work, we managed to get the Strathaven Balloon Festival off the ground. The festival now attracts pilots and visitors from all over Europe with over 25,000 spectators attending over the weekend. We are also delighted to say that 20 years later Don is still attending. The Strathaven Balloon Festival, is non-profit and a registered Scottish Charity (SC046563), which has a small core team of committee members who work hard to raise money to cover the costs of the annual event.