With over 800,000 visitors gathering each year to view 100-odd hot-air balloons take to the sky, this is the largest event of its kind in Asia. Pilots come from around the world to compete in this massive hot-air balloon competition held on the Kase riverside in Saga City, Saga Prefecture, and although visitors to the festival are not permitted to ride in the balloons, watching them take flight, like teardrops of candy filling the sky, is nearly as thrilling. The fiesta hosts a wide variety of designed balloons – some of them imitating beloved children's characters – and there are a variety of special events, including the 'Night Mooring', when balloons light up the Kase River with the glow of their fires, transforming the riverside into a world of enchantment. The Saga International Balloon Fiesta has been going since 1980, and event dates for 2014 are October 30 to November 3.