From the 11th to the 14th August this year is the annual Bristol Balloon Festival.
The Bristol International Balloon Fiesta is Europe’s largest annual meeting of hot air balloons, attracting over 150 Hot Air Balloons from across the globe. The Fiesta truly is a sight that can only be seen in Bristol. Held over four days in August at Ashton Court Estate, the event is completely free with charges made for parking on the event site. Tickets can be purchased here. Alongside the fantastic site of hot air balloons filling the skies, we have a large number of great trade stands, fairground rides and entertainment.
We went last year and had a really nice time watching the mass ascent of the numerous hot air balloons.
For me the real highlight of this festival are the mass ascents. You can get really quite close to the balloons as they rise.
Of course if you aren’t interested in hot air balloons, then there is a bundle of other stuff you can do, from stalls to fairground rides.
It should be noted that if you don’t like crowds then this probably isn’t the event for you, though you could always go to the early morning ascents.
I know a lot of people like the night glow on the Thursday night, my previous experience was that the whole thing was incredible, but ruined by the constantly moving crowds, so I now watch it on the telly.