Canowindra International Balloon Challenge

The Canowindra International Balloon Challenge is a spectacular event that turns the sky into a fiesta of colour with vibrant hot air balloons reaching up into the sky.

Each year, the sky bursts to life when all of the hot air balloons take flight in the completion and commercial flying, and it is unlike anything you have ever seen!

The Canowindra International Balloon Challenge is held annually in the second week of the NSW school holidays. The town welcomes over 10,000 visitors to see the balloons during the event. This time of year has ideal weather, including calm wind currents and cool temperatures.

Balloon Challenge Competition

Every year, pilots from all over Australia and overseas gather at Canowindra to enjoy the challenge of the sport of competition ballooning, colouring the sky over this amazing landscape.

Weather permitting, the balloons will launch daily soon after sunrise. The launch sites for the pilots competing in the challenge will vary depending on the wind direction. Fiesta pilots (not competing) will usually launch from the Canowindra Sports Ovals.

Enjoy watching the balloons decorate the sky and landscape when you are out. However, keep your eyes on the road and pull over in a safe place well off the road if you want to watch the action.

The competitive events in a balloon competition are called tasks. The Competition Director can specify several tasks for each flight. The tasks for a particular flight are determined before the flight commences after assessing the weather and various other factors.

Competition flights require pilots to exercise skill in manoeuvering their balloons over a set course of tasks with goals, targets, scoring areas, time and distance limits. The pilot steers the balloon by utilising the wind currents at hand. Generally, the wind will vary in direction and speed at different altitudes. By climbing or descending into these layers of air, the pilot can manoeuvre the balloon onto a preferred line of travel towards their targets.

Cabonne Community Balloon Glow

The Cabonne Community Glow is the signature event of the Canowindra International Balloon Challenge. It will be an amazing, family-friendly spectacle on 3 April 2025.

To be held at the Canowindra Sports Oval, the 2025 event will be headlined by 15 hot air balloons. They will inflate just after sunset and then light up like giant 20-metre-high lightbulbs, synchronising their lights to a mix of the best music over the last 20 years. It is a spectacle you will never forget.

At the Cabonne community night markets, you will also find a range of local food and wine offerings that will tempt you to eat and drink more than you should. Bring a blanket, pick a spot on the green grass, and enjoy the afternoon.

This is only $12 per adult and $5 for under-18s (plus booking fee). You would be crazy to go anywhere else!

This event will take place rain, hail, or shine. Some weather may be too unsafe to inflate the balloons, but the Entertainment and Night Markets will still go ahead. Please feel free to bring chairs as long as they are low to avoid people being unable to see behind you. Even better, bring a picnic blanket.

The Candowindra International Balloon Challenge is a visually spectacular experience that all visitors will surely enjoy.