* The authors are part of the community of La Vanguardia readers
A total of 25 teams from all over the world have taken part in the 41st edition of the Mercat del Ram Balloon Contest, which has filled the sky of Vic, the capital of Osona, with aerostatic devices.
The most emblematic test of this popular contest, portrayed in La Vanguardia’s Readers’ Photos, came yesterday Saturday when the teams competed to fly closest to the Vic City Hall bell tower.
In this series of photographs we can see the preparations of the balloons in the countryside on the outskirts of Vic, how they cross the landscape to the city and how they fly over the capital of Osona, especially the Plaza Major, where the market is held.
Years ago, in another edition of the contest I went up in the balloon of the great master Paolo Bonanno. Yesterday, Saturday, in the 41st edition of the test, I went up again in its balloon.
As always, it demonstrated impeccable control of the balloon by the grandmaster, with the soft landing of this pilot who is about to turn 80 years old.
In the images we can see his balloon flying and in the Plaza del Mercat with the drawing of the smiling face. In one of the photos we see another balloon, that of the tireless organizer of the popular Vic balloon flight, Mikel Masallera.
