Documentary reality film "Beaver Adventures in Switzerland". Why Beavers? Do balloons fly in winter? Who is Milka? Upbeat and fun, full of impressive views from the Alps and beyond.

Raimundas Sereika: "The film was filmed at the beginning as home made movie for ourselfs, but with extra footage from the history, and have to say Thanks to our coleage and friend Giedrius, It became full lenght an adventure film"

Annually, Chateau-d’Oex is the place to be if you want to be surrounded by stunning white snow topped mountains, a small Swiss village and more than 50 hot air balloons of all shapes and sizes for the Festival International De Ballons.

The Chateau-d’Oex Festival International de Ballons started in 1979 and attracts over 25,000 visitors to the area. These days, the festival hosts around 60 balloons which also means 60 pilots!

This event and village is located in the Vaud canton of Switzerland.

There is a long-standing connection between Chateau-d’Oex and hot air balloons. The Breitling Orbiter, driven by Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones, departed from here in 1999 to complete the first round-the-world flight in a hot air balloon. They ended up making a total of 45,755 km distance! So if you know the full story, it’s even more special to visit the Chateau-d’Oex hot air balloon festival. At the Château-d’Oex hot air balloon museum, visitors can otherwise learn and discover more about the history of this crazy adventure.

This event is running for more than 40 years, which is quite an achievement!!

February 1979, the Tourist Office organises the 1st International Hot Air Balloon Week with the collaboration of Hans Bücker, 12 balloons from 5 different countries attend the event. This inaugural event raises the profile of Château-d’Œx both in Switzerland and abroad. David Niven, the famous actor and star of «Around the World in 80 Days», sponsored the first event.

February 1994, the 4th World Hot-Air Ballooning Championship. This was the first time that an event of this kind took place in the Swiss mountains during winter. 16 pilots from 9 countries competed in 12 events held around the Pays-d'Enhaut. Julia Kourotchkina (Miss World 1993) and Roger Moore, alias «James Bond», were the godmother and godfather of that year’s event.

March 1999, the Breitling Orbiter III, designed by Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones, took off from Château-d'Œx on March the 1st at 9:05 am. After a flight lasting 19 days, 21 hours and 47 minutes, they landed in the Egyptian desert on March 21st at 6:57 am. This was the first round-the-world balloon flight and it broke both the flight time and distance records (45,755 km).

2010, the 32nd edition suffered due to overcast weather conditions. This was the first time the Night Glow had to be cancelled. On the positive side, the programme was extended to include other types of aircraft. A magnificent flight also took place celebrating 10 years of the twinning of the towns of Bristol (UK), Romorantin (FR), Sint-Niklaas (BE) and Château-d’Œx (CH).

2017, all possible flight windows were exploited during the event. The pilots accumulated over 800 flight hours and 611 take-offs took place. We also witnessed the take-off of the gas balloon piloted by Nicolas Tièche and Laurent Sciboz, which landed in the French Jura after 21 hours in the air. After a 5-year absence, the Night Glow once again provided a unique spectacle during the climax of the event.

2023,this year marked the 43rd edition of the International Balloon Festival after a 2-year absence due to the pandemic! Over the 9 days of the festival, 8 days were able to realise take-offs and balloon flights, principally during the mornings. In total, the 60 balloons were able to take off 379 times from Château-d'Œx, for a total of 498 hours of flight over the duration of the festival.