Back in 2022, I went to a few hot air balloon events, but luck was not on my side. None of the balloons really took off, and I assumed it was a bad year for balloons. I even went to the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, where the weather was not on my side. Since then, Dann and I have gone on a hot air balloon trip. So, this year, we wanted to try to get along to the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta once again.
This festival is one that is completely free to attend, however they do charge for a bus route and to park in their official car parks. We drove to Bristol, with plenty of snacks and very good aircon, after all three of our children agreed that it would be exciting to go. We had booked parking up, as this made the most sense, but there are some parking places that are unofficial so you can then take the shuttle in. The parking is a little bit of a walk from the main festival, but it is absolutely the best opinion in my opinion.
We had decided to bring our own packed lunch to the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta and purchase dinner at some of the food trucks there. When we arrived, hungry and excited, we sat in the shade of some of the trees and had our lunch. There isn’t tons of shade in this valley, but the treeline is normally perfect for a bit of eating before exploring. This year, the fiesta is sponsored by sunscreen, which makes SO much sense as it’s been so warm and sunny lately! Their booth however was very much walled in, unlike the last time we came, and didn’t feel as full of fun activities. There was plenty of free sunscreen though.
We tried some samples of drinks as we walked around, before Amelia and Robin started going on rides. There are a lot of fairground style rides, which were on the expensive side, at £5 a go for each one. They both started at a fun house, which was four floors high and the operators allowed you to go again and again, as long as you didn’t step foot off, which made up for it. This was right by the Party Peeps stage, which is fantastic for younger ones, though ours have now grown a bit too big. We also did hook-a-duck, of course, and the giant swing, along with all of the other fun houses. Kai even went on the ghost train – so there were a lot of rides had.
We then checked out a bunch of the different stalls, where there were brands like Untamed and Costco where people could sign up for memberships. Others were selling trinkets (and there were a good variety of cheap fidgets and drop shipped items, as always). Along with all of these booths, there were tons and tons of food places. I am talking corn dogs, burgers, smoked meats, Indian food, etc. Amelia, Robin and Kai all picked burgers from a place called Great Burger, which had great burgers they said. Dann and I went to Pasture, which was the featured restaurant, that had steak and chimichurri fries, loaded jalapeno fries, and Padron peppers which were all fantastic – some of the best foods I have had at a festival.
We did watch the RAF do their sky diving, which was a good sign for balloon take off. There was a demonstration which showed these individuals falling from the sky, putting on a fantastic smoke display. By this point, we had our fantastic seats and were waiting on the grass, as the balloon take off is dependent on a meeting which happens at 6pm. There was a radio DJ playing music and keeping the crowd engaged. At one point, they even did a shout out saying ‘Shout out to the Hadley-Sullivan house who drove 4 hours here, for their second year’ which surprised Amelia and Robin, as they had no idea we had pout in for a family shout out. Last time we came, they didn’t get the go-ahead, but this time at around 6:20 we saw the green smoke which meant at least one balloon would be taking off.
At around 7, the balloons were inflating and the smaller balloon took off saying yes to all of the other balloons. Slowly, and then quite quickly, we saw tons and tons of balloons! Some of them were different colors, some were advertising different companies, some were fun shapes. It was truly magical. Kai, Amelia and Robin all remarked about how amazing this was, that they’ve never seen anything like it, and we were all guessing what ones would take off next or pointing at our favorites. Everyone took photos and were utterly stunned! Once the final balloon had taken off, we packed up our stuff and headed home. The Bristol International Balloon Fiesta does have a night glow, but this is on very late at night for us and we’ve already seen it at a different festival last year. It feels like the Night Glow is fantastic for days when the balloons cannot fly, but as they did today, we were all happy with what we saw. It was truly a special moment.
You can check out our other Days Out to see what else we’ve been up too!