An annual hot air balloon festival started in southwestern Japan's Saga City on Thursday.

The Saga International Balloon Fiesta is one of Asia's largest balloon festivals. It takes place along the banks of the Kase River. This year, about 120 hot air balloons from 20 countries and regions, including the United States, Britain and Switzerland, are taking part in the event.

Seventy colorful balloons participating in the festival's competition lifted off into the clear autumn sky early in the morning on the first day.

The balloonists compete to see how close they can drop a small sandbag onto a designated target while flying. The target is about 10 kilometers away from the launch site.

A large crowd of people gathered on the riverbank to wave at the balloons and take photographs. Last year, most of the competitive rounds were canceled, due to bad weather.

A group of women from Kumamoto and Kyoto prefectures said they were happy to see the balloons this year, as they could not see them last year, due to the rain. They said they were surprised that the balloons were flying so close to the spectators.

The festival runs through Monday.

nhk