Louis Blériot of 1909. Like some of the other prizes offered by the paper, it was widely seen as nothing more than a way to gain cheap publicity: the Paris newspaper "Le Matin" commenting that there was no chance of the prize being won. The English Channel had been crossed by an unmanned hydrogen balloon in 1784 and a manned crossing by Jean-Pierre Blanchard and John Jeffries followed in 1785. Blériot, who intended to fly across the Channel in his Type XI monoplane, had three rivals for the prize, the most serious being Hubert Latham, a French national of English extraction flying
London International Hot Air Balloon Festival Maple Leaf, and Tyrone the T-Rex. In addition to the balloon launches and rides, the festival featured an amusement park, concerts, and a night glow. Musical acts featured at the 2006 festival included Canadian artists Sloan and Mobile, as well as London band Bobnoxious. In March 2008, Sundance Balloons announced that the 2008 edition of the event would not be held following several consecutive years of financial losses associated with the festival. London International Hot Air Balloon Festival The London Hot-Air Balloon Festival (London Balloon Festival) was an annual hot-air balloon festival held in London, Ontario, Canada. The festival, which