Balloons over Waikato

The event spans five days during autumn and attracts both local and overseas balloonists.

Events in the festival include sunrise and sunset launches, a balloon basket glow in the city's Garden Place, the "Nightglow", a morning "Key Grab" competition where balloonists must attempt to secure a key placed on a pole in Innes Common and a Dawn Patrol where a select number of balloons inflate and lift off at dawn creating a magical glow in the sky.

[3] In 2017, a hot air balloon landed in the middle of a Hamilton intersection.

[5] That same year, the City Burn event as part of Balloons Over Waikato was recorded as a summer month highlight.

[6] The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic saw the Nightglow not go forward in 2020 for the first time in its 21-year history, while the Innes Common morning showcases continued with no audience allowed.