Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu International Balloon Festival

Since its inception, the Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu International Hot Air Balloon Festival has established itself as Canada's leading aeronautics tourism event, drawing over one hundred hot air balloons from various countries each summer for ten days of festivities in the heart of the Richelieu Valley. The event takes advantage of the favorable geographic conditions offered by this flat, open area of Montérégie, where vast agricultural spaces enable the massive balloon launches that define the festival's signature—particularly spectacular during early morning and twilight ascents, those magical moments when dozens of balloons rise simultaneously into the sky, creating a chromatic mosaic visible for several kilometers in every direction. Beyond the aerial spectacle itself, the festival offers a diverse program featuring live music performances, nighttime fireworks and family entertainment, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors throughout its duration and making this event one of the essential highlights on the Montérégie summer calendar. The site's proximity to the Chambly Canal National Historic Site, whose skies are equally animated by balloons from the festival, creates a natural synergy between the two attractions, allowing visitors to combine historical heritage and contemporary aerial spectacle within a single excursion through the Richelieu Valley.