To this specific edition we were invited by Barcelona És Molt Més and Anoia Turisme for an instagrammer event that was organized in Igualada. We were happy enough to participate at this event and see other fellows who came to the event.
The European Balloon Festival in Igualada is the biggest hot-air-balloon festival in Spain. It runs every July, an hour and a half from Barcelona, and it ends each evening with a Night Glow — dozens of balloons tethered on the ground, lit from inside, in the dark.
We went, and we made the mistake most first-timers make: we left before the Night Glow. So the most important piece of advice in this article comes first.
Stay for the Night Glow. Plan your whole day around it.
The balloons fly at dawn and again in the early evening, because that’s when the air is calm enough. In between there is a long, hot afternoon in which not much happens in the sky.
That afternoon is what defeats people. You arrive early, you see the ascent, the children get hot, you go and find lunch, and by four o’clock everyone has had enough — so you drive home, and you miss the Night Glow, which is the single most photographed thing at the festival and the thing everybody who has seen it talks about afterwards.
We did exactly that, and we regretted it.
How to do it properly:
- Don’t try to do the whole day in one go. Either come for the dawn ascent and go home, or come in the afternoon and stay for the Night Glow. Trying to do both with children is how you end up leaving at the wrong moment
- If you only do one, do the evening. The evening flight and the Night Glow are back to back
- Plan the long afternoon out of the site. Igualada has a proper lunch and a neighbourhood worth walking — both below
- Check which night the Night Glow is on. It doesn’t happen every night of the festival
The essentials
- What: the European Balloon Festival — the largest hot-air-balloon gathering in Spain
- Where: Igualada, capital of the Anoia region, inland Catalonia. Main site: Parc Central, Avinguda de Catalunya, next to the hospital
- When: every July, usually Wednesday to Sunday around the second weekend.
- From Barcelona: about 1 hour 30 minutes
- Watching it: the ascents happen in open public space and crowds gather to watch.
- Flying in one: passenger flights are sold separately and book up.
- Best for: children old enough to be up early or out late — not both
What actually happens
Balloons only fly in calm air, which means two windows a day: shortly after sunrise, and in the couple of hours before sunset.
The dawn ascent is the one in all the photographs — dozens of envelopes inflating on the grass in the early light, then lifting off more or less together. You need to be there very early. It’s worth it.
The evening flight is easier with children and almost as good, and it runs straight into the Night Glow.
The Night Glow is the finale: balloons stay tethered to the ground and the burners are fired in sequence, so each one lights up from the inside like a paper lantern, in the dark, usually to music. This is the thing to stay for.
There’s also a competition going on. The festival is a serious international ballooning event, not just a display — so the pilots are flying tasks, not sightseeing. That’s part of why the timings are what they are.
Getting there from Barcelona
By car: about an hour and a half inland. This is the practical option for the dawn ascent, and the only real option if you stay for the Night Glow.
By train: Igualada is on the FGC line from Plaça Espanya.
If you’re driving: arrive well before the advertised time for the dawn ascent. Thousands of people converge on the same field.
The long afternoon: what to do in Igualada
This is the part that turns a morning out into a good day, and it’s the part nobody covers — every other article about the festival stops at the balloons.
The REC neighbourhood
Igualada was a leather town, and the REC district is its old tannery quarter — a whole neighbourhood of industrial tanning buildings, many of them still standing with their drying-loft façades. It’s strange and rather beautiful, completely unlike anything on the Barcelona tourist circuit, and it’s a good place to spend an hour walking in the shade of the afternoon.
If you like the industrial-heritage side of Catalonia — the same instinct that makes Colònia Güell worth the trip — the REC is your kind of place.
Lunch
Somtruites is where we ate, and it’s the right sort of place for a long lunch between the two flying windows.
Anoia
Igualada is the capital of Anoia, an inland region most visitors to Barcelona never hear of. Worth knowing simply because it explains what you’re looking at: this is working inland Catalonia rather than the coast, and the landscape the balloons fly over is the reason the festival is here.
With children
What works: balloons inflating at close range is genuinely one of the best things a child can watch — they’re enormous, they roar, and the whole process takes long enough to hold attention. And the Night Glow is an easy sell to any age.
What to plan for:
- The heat. Inland Catalonia in July is hotter than the coast. Hats, water, shade for the middle of the day
- The hours. Dawn or late evening. Pick one; don’t attempt both
- The noise. Burners are loud up close — worth knowing if you have a child who minds that
- The walk. Big open site, and a long way from wherever you parked
Is it worth the trip?
Yes — with one condition: build the day around the Night Glow rather than around the dawn ascent.
It’s the largest event of its kind in Spain, it’s an hour and a half from Barcelona, it happens on the same weekend every July, and hardly anything is written about it in English. The only reason our own first visit wasn’t perfect is that we left too early. Don’t do that.
Our visit was hosted by Barcelona És Molt Més and Anoia Turisme, and we’re grateful to them — but we paid for our own mistake about the Night Glow, and that’s the advice we’d give anyone.
All our days out of Barcelona, compared. · More Catalan festivals worth planning around.
Special thanks to Barcelona És Molt Més, Anoia Turisme, Diputació de Barcelona, Descobreix Catalunya, European Balloon Festival for having us.
Frequently asked questions
What is the European Balloon Festival?
It is the biggest hot air balloon festival in Spain, held every July in Igualada, about an hour and a half inland from Barcelona. It is a serious international ballooning competition as well as a public spectacle, and it ends with a Night Glow.
What is the Night Glow?
The Night Glow is the festival’s finale. Balloons stay tethered to the ground in the dark and their burners are fired in sequence, so each envelope lights up from the inside like a paper lantern, usually to music. It is the most photographed part of the festival and the part you should plan your day around. It does not happen every night, so check which evening it falls on.
When do the balloons actually fly?
Twice a day, because balloons need calm air: shortly after sunrise and in the couple of hours before sunset. The middle of the day is hot and there is little happening in the sky, so it is better to come for one window than to try to stay for both.
How do you get to Igualada from Barcelona?
By car it is about an hour and a half inland. Igualada is also reachable on the FGC railway from Plaça Espanya, but if you plan to stay for the Night Glow you need to check the time of the last train back before relying on it.
Is the European Balloon Festival good for children?
Yes, with planning. Watching balloons inflate at close range is a genuinely impressive thing for any age, and the Night Glow is an easy sell. The difficulties are the July heat inland, the very early or very late hours, and the loud burners. Choose either the dawn ascent or the evening, not both.
What else is there to do in Igualada?
Igualada is the capital of the Anoia region and was a leather town. The REC district is its old tannery quarter, a whole neighbourhood of industrial tanning buildings, and it is a good place to spend the hot part of the afternoon between the morning and evening flights.
