Myanmar hot-air balloon festival returns with a bang

The hot-air balloons featured an array of artwork from images of Buddha to traditional motifs, with one made in the shape of a polar bear.

Thousands of people have gathered in the hills of central Myanmar for the annual Tazaungdaing light festival that marks the end of the rainy season with a fiery nighttime display of exploding hot-air balloons.

The celebrations in the former British hill station of Pyin Oo Lwin have not been held for two years because of the Covid pandemic and unrest following a military coup.

But on Sunday night rival teams began launching 76 aerial artistic creations that will take flight over the next five days, competing for marks in aesthetics, teamwork, height reached and time spent in the air.

Their balloons were propelled upwards about 100 metres (320 feet) using the heat from a fire before fireworks inside exploded, obliterating months of work in a spectacular burst of lights across the inky sky.

The festivities are a rare respite from the economic misery and violence wracking much of the country almost two years after the military's power grab.

"We are holding our festival here but we are sorry for what is happening elsewhere," said Aung Myat Thu, 37, who spent months working with friends on their balloon.

"When we were preparing for the competition, we all worked alongside our worries."