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.
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433 hot air balloons take off at the same time in Lorraine
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 its activities by its designer last July, the prospects of continuity seemed very hypothetical and a lot of excitement was expressed on social networks,” indicates the organization.
On the social network X, Dutch enthusiasts are already indicating the date.
The meeting is set for July 25 to August 3, 2025.
BREAKING NEWS:🚨
GEMAB25 WILL BE HELD ON 25-7-2025 till 03-08-2025!🥳
They found a buyer!🙌#GEMAB #Party pic.twitter.com/KMpK1tfO3n
— Ballooning Noord (@BallooningNoord) February 13, 2024
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. .
Half a million spectators last year
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, 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.
It was launched in 1989 under the name “Fraternité 89”, on the occasion of the bicentenary of the French Revolution, recalls France Bleu