LONG HELLO & SHORT GOODBYE

In the meantime, we and most of the other teams of the 4th Tunisian Balloons Festival have returned home, extremely disappointed, but safe and sound. Some teams have stayed in Marseille on their own expenses, hoping the Tunisian organisers will get things straight and book spaces for the next ferry on Sunday, March 18th.

We still do not know what has led to the course of events on Wednesday. Obviously, the ferry reservation for the 40 balloon teams has not been paid in time – if this was a mismanagement of the Tunisian organisers, or if it was sabotage (as the organisers are claiming), we will probably never find out.

Fact is, the Tunisian Balloons Festival has lost almost all of its credibility. Whether the organisation is simply lousy (which our experiences from last year definitely suggest) or whether there are forces in Tunisia operating against the festival – we would neither feel safe, nor have any fun there anymore.

Nevertheless, we respect the decision of the remaining teams and wish them a safe journey there and back again. Inshallah…