Hundreds of people flocked to enjoy the enthralling sight of balloons hitting the sky. At the inaugural day, only four balloons were flown and more in numbers are likely to be added from Thursday.

As many as 12 hot air balloons from countries like the US, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Poland and Germany are to be showcased at the fiesta.

A hot-air balloon adorned with life-sized images of Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar in Enthiran 2.0, a sequel to Tamil blockbuster film Enthiran released in 2010, turned out to be a major attraction. The 100-foot tall balloon has been floated as part of promotional activities for Rajini’s movie 2.0 set to release this month.

“We are thrilled to see our superstar soaring high in the sky,” said S Ranjani, a college student, who came to see the balloon fest with her friends from Coimbatore. For children, there were more choices to rejoice as balloons sporting pictures of cartoon character angry birds would be floated in the night sky.

The balloon fest, organised by media firm Global Media Box and The Slaves, a Pollachi-based restaurant, with the support of the State Tourism Department and Adhiban Fincorp, is expected to see a surge in footfalls, when compared to the previous years. “Obviously more people come as a picnic to see one of its kind fest in Coimbatore. A crowd of 2000 people participated in the first year. It grew to 18,000 last year and we expect the numbers to double up now,” said Benedict Savio, the organiser of the fest. The balloons would go up the sky at 5.30 am and land by 8.30am. In the evening, illuminated balloons would be floated in the sky from 6pm, which would be a sight to behold for visitors.

Public, however, would not be allowed to fly in the balloon as they are reserved only for sponsors. Entry is free for public to see the six-day balloon festival, which ends on January 16. The event was inaugurated by Pollachi Sub Collector Gayathri Krishnan on the Sakthi Mill campus on Pollachi-

Coimbatore Road.