El Yelmo festival gets underway

The eleventh El Yelmo paragliding festival has started

This afternoon (1 July) the eleventh edition of Spain’s popular Festival of the Air, El Yelmo, officially opened with a free flight program for the disabled at 1pm. The official opening ceremony for the festival, which is taking place in a hot and sunny Sierra de Segura, Andalucia, is at 6pm and runs until Sunday.

Over the weekend some 500 pilots from all over the world are expected to attend the event, to fly and to watch some amazing airshows from the likes of   Horacio Llorens, Ramon Morillas, Mathieu Rouanet and Anthony & Tim Green. For some fun on terra-firma, sponsor Toyota have brought along a Formula One simulator and there will also be a 4×4 circuit, whilst the trade show will showcase new products and innovations in the free flying world, with some 35 exhibitors.

There is of course the International Film Festival too, which will screen 25 productions from 8 countries which can be enjoyed in the relative cool of after dark, under the stars in the Sierra de Segura. Of course the fun goes on well into the night, with two bands performing on each of Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

www.fiaelyelmo.com