This gathering of some thirty hot-air balloons on the Metz lake is part of the Mirabelle festival. This year it falls at the same time as the Gordon Bennett. But it should be remembered that it was Pilâtre de Rozier Organisation that invented this event in 1983, and ran it until 1992. It will be forty years next year. It is now organised by the APIMM, the Association of Hot Air Balloon Pilots of Moselle.
1983-1992: ten years with up to 150 balloons each time over the city of Metz. In 1985, this was the highlight of a show where, due to a wind failure, the balloons were left hanging in the sky, to the delight of the inhabitants.
