The gigantic hot air balloon folded into itself and fell in a ball of flames, scattering onlookers below at the beginning of Myanmar's stunning yet treacherous fire balloon festival.

Nobody was hurt this time but every year several are injured at the event in Shan State's capital Taunggyi, a highlight of the annual Tazaungdaing festival of light that marks the end of the rainy season.

The celebration is rooted in Buddhism and draws tens of thousands each day.

It has become a "festival for the whole of Burma," competition judge Thein Zaw, 54, told AFP in between balloon inspections.

After months spent working on their designs, competing teams launch - or try to launch - some 200 homemade devices over the course of the 10-day festival.

They are weighed down with frames carrying hundreds of fireworks or candles, and a miscalculation on when to light the rockets can result in a fiery catastrophe.