Hot air balloons take off as part of the Mondial Air Ballon, on July 25, 2021 in Hageville, in Meurthe-et-Moselle (AFP/Archives/JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN)
The Grand Est Mondial Air Ballons (Gemab) will be able to take off again: its founder, who retired, managed to find a buyer, allowing the event presented as the largest gathering of hot air balloons in the world to return in 2025, we learned on Tuesday.
After the announcement of the retirement last summer of its founder Philippe Buron Pilâtre, the future of this aeronautical festival popular with hot air balloon lovers was very uncertain.
But “the 19th edition of Gemab will take place from Friday July 25 to Sunday August 3, 2025,” announced the Pilâtre de Rozier organization in a press release.
The Lorraine company specializing in events, ABC Group, is taking over the adventure launched in 1989 by Philippe Buron Pilâtre, heir to the first flying man Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier.
“After the announcement of the cessation of his activities by the designer of the event Philippe Buron Pilâtre last July, the prospects of continuity seemed very hypothetical and a great deal of excitement was expressed on social networks,” indicates the organization.
The buyer, the ABC Group, has “many years of experience in organizing events” and “one of the largest French players in the field of event equipment rental”, specifies the Pilâtre de Rozier organization. .
The ABC Group, which had submitted its application for the resumption of the event in December, is notably involved in the Moselle Open tennis tournament, and has been a supplier to Gemab since 1999.
Philippe Buron Pilâtre will remain alongside the buyer until the next edition of Gemab, as technical advisor.
The Gemab brings together hundreds of aeronauts every two years in Chambley-Bussières, near Metz. The event, which welcomed half a million spectators last summer, is popular for its online takeoffs, where hundreds of balloons take to the air simultaneously.
© 2024 AFP
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