Oh Danny Boy the cows they are stampeding

The longest day of the year began in style in the first ever UK City of Culture with seven hot air balloons drifting over Londonderry playing soothing music shortly after the break of dawn.

By The Newsroom

Published 21st Jun 2013, 21:02 BST

Hot air balloons in the sky above Londonderry

On a day when the city was branded Music City, crowds of all ages gathered to participate in a lengthy list of cultural and musical activities.

The hot air balloons rose into the Londonderry air on a day when the city marked the 100th anniversary of the song, Danny Boy. A hundred ago the lyrics of Danny Boy were added to the Londonderry Air, a centuries old tune, and thousands of people of all ages gathered to sing the song in the city’s main square,

The day was a massive success, though as the balloons drifted over Drumahoe a herd of cows stampeded after being startled by one of them, only to race across the glen and then down the mountain side after they were frightened again by another balloon blasting out ‘soothing sounds’.

Danny Boy