Blessing Ceremony Held for Hot Air Balloon Festival 台東熱氣球嘉年華辦不辦 地方意見不同

Seven hot air balloons, including a Hello Kitty one, ascended into the sky over Taitung's Chishang during a blessing ceremony, leading to discussions about whether this year's International Balloon Festival will be held. While local businesses and hotels want the event to go ahead, most local residents are against the idea due to the pandemic.
 

After a pastor prays for Taiwan during a blessing ceremony, seven hot air balloons, including a new Hello Kitty balloon, ascend into the sky over Chishang.

Due to the pandemic, the opening ceremony was closed to the public and less than 100 county and event workers were allowed to attend. Many local residents are against holding the event at this point in time with the pandemic still not under control.

Lin Chien-hung, Chishang Resident："What if this causes an outbreak? Who is going to take responsibility?"

The county says only the blessing ceremony was held in Chishang and that doesn’t mean the main event will be. It is unknown at this time whether the main event will even be held, much less where and on what scale. On July 27, county representatives met with residents in Luye to hear what they had to say. While hotel operators support going forward with the event, residents say the event should be canceled.

Luo Shao-ping, Hotel Representative："The price of their farmland would go up. Wouldn’t they be benefiting too?"

Lee Kuo-chiang, Luye Township Chief.. “There’s a pandemic going on. I think it should be canceled.”

Yu Ming-hsun, Director, Tourism Department, Taitung County："We have different considerations for location and other decisions based on everyone’s different viewpoints."

The Taiwan International Balloon Festival would be in its 11th year this year if it is held, and the county government is caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to making a decision on whether to hold the event. A decision may be made no later than July 30, when the county magistrate is scheduled to report to the county council about the government's final thought on the matter.

七顆熱氣球包含今年首度亮相的 HELLO KITTY 造型球，在牧師為台灣渡過這次疫情的祈福儀式後，從池上牧野渡假村大草皮升空。

台東縣政府表示，疫情期間，首航活動沒有邀請來賓和民眾參加，也依照中央防疫規定，管制縣府官員和工作人員不到1百人，不過現場有連署反對在池上舉辦熱氣球相關活動的民眾想闖入抗議，質疑會帶來疫情。

池上鄉民 林建宏表示：「萬一成為這樣一個防疫缺口，沒有人承擔得起。」

縣府強調，這是祈福首航，並不一定會選在池上鄉舉辦熱氣球活動。但是熱氣球嘉年華會到底要不要舉辦？在哪裡辦？有多大的規模？都還沒有定案。而縣府27號曾在鹿野鄉舉辦說明會、爭取共識，但業者希望舉辦帶來繁榮，和當地民眾希望阻當疫情不要辦的意見，造成對立。

飯店業者代表 羅紹平表示：「他的農地有漲價，他是不是也受益。」

鹿野鄉長 李國強表示：「因為今年的疫情，我建議是今年停辦。」

台東縣交通觀光處長 余明勳表示：「綜合了各種不同的聲音，那我們就會有不同的考量，包含地點的部分。」

邁入第十一年舉辦的台東縣熱氣球嘉年華會，暑假已經過了一半，縣府在觀光業者要維持經濟和保護民眾健康的考量下，辦與不辦陷入困境。不過，縣府透露，30號縣議會要邀請縣長報告，就會有結果。